Will you keep wearing a mask after the pandemic is over? (1 Viewer)

COVID rates are on the decline in most places. As the population becomes vaccinated there will be little need to wear masks. If there is a 95% chance of immunity from the vaccine, including essentially a 100% chance of avoidance of significant illness...there is no reason to wear a mask after herd immunity arrives. The COVID vaccine will likely be an annual event, so the newer variants should be covered. Just like we don’t fear the flu to the point of socially distancing and wearing masks...we will get there with COVID.
 
If I am some where that requires one then yes, other wise no.
 
If I am some where that requires one then yes, other wise no.
Not picking at you specifically, but that’s kind of where norms come into play. If say, we are still ramping up vaccines and the CDC says to wear masks, and I’m in a state that doesn’t require them (rhymes with Plorida), I will continue to wear one.
 
I hope they keep the rules in place til it's completely gone.
Masks are no big deal. I'm married so I just wear my mask and sunglasses and look at other wives butts.
 
The question is "after the pandemic is over" and my answer to that is no. I'm not wearing a mask if the pandemic is over and I've been vaccinated.

In the meantime, yes. It's just become a habit like everything else, but it never really bothered me anyway.
 
Because they are uncomfortable(even painful behind your ears), especially if you have to wear one all day because you are working in a place that deals with the public.
Are we that soft now? Masks don't have to be tight on your face.

Also, most cool masks don't do a very good job of protection anyway unless you are double masking.
Not my experience.

They are also a new added expense, quality N95 masks are not cheap.
You don't need N95s.
 
While a lot of that is true, there are creative ways of wearing masks that don't involve wearing them behind the ears. They can be customized so that it's not as uncomfortable.

Sure, wearing them for extended periods of time is tough. The longest I've worn a mask is like 2 hours when I was doing a bit of shopping. I've been fortunate enough to be able to work from home since last March. I'd hate wearing them all day.

I go about 4 hours at work.
 
Are we that soft now? Masks don't have to be tight on your face.
There's some confusion on that point. Back in March & April 2020 ... yeah, that WAS the CDC guidance. Just cover your mouth and nose and unless you were working in close contact with COVID patients, a tight seal (or an N95) was not necessary.

Then late last month ... the official guidance changed, ostensibly in response to the increased transmissibility of the newer variants (variants!). That's where the double-masking advice came from -- the single cloth mask as normally worn is no longer considered sufficient source control/personal protection because of the typical gaps at the sides and near the nose/below the eyes. Now, they're saying either a tight seal (N95s, or plastic brackets for surgical masks, etc.) or else a second mask is recommended.

Just giving the info, not advocating one way or the other.
 
That's not really how survival of the fittest works.

If a mutation makes the a variant of the virus less successful in the wild, it will (most likely) either die out or be out-competed by a more contagious strain until it...dies out.

Right, but that was my point. I hope it dies out before a more contagious strain surfaces.
 
That's not really how survival of the fittest works.

If a mutation makes the a variant of the virus less successful in the wild, it will (most likely) either die out or be out-competed by a more contagious strain until it...dies out.

I thought I read that a virus that kills people is actually less successful than a virus that does not. If you kill your host, you die too. So a more successful virus is one that can replicate easier and not kill its hosts. Its goal is not to kill, but to flourish.
 
There's some confusion on that point. Back in March & April 2020 ... yeah, that WAS the CDC guidance. Just cover your mouth and nose and unless you were working in close contact with COVID patients, a tight seal (or an N95) was not necessary.

Then late last month ... the official guidance changed, ostensibly in response to the increased transmissibility of the newer variants (variants!). That's where the double-masking advice came from -- the single cloth mask as normally worn is no longer considered sufficient source control/personal protection because of the typical gaps at the sides and near the nose/below the eyes. Now, they're saying either a tight seal (N95s, or plastic brackets for surgical masks, etc.) or else a second mask is recommended.

Just giving the info, not advocating one way or the other.

Common sense says that two masks protect more than 1 loose fitted mask, and 3 will probably protect more than 2. It has nothing to do with the "variants". However...it is INCREDIBLY and let me repeat...INCREDIBLY difficult to wear tight fitting and suffocating masks all day without constant adjustment and even removing the mask periodically to get fresh air. Clinical trials are performed in IDEAL situations. They aren't performed in real world situations, where things like imperfect compliance and use are reality. So I honestly think that we have to take the recommendations with a grain of salt. Everything is a moving target...we are basing our decisions on largely CRAP medical trials...so I'd strongly recommend people using good sense. Good sense says that social distancing is key to prevention, and everything else takes second place. Good sense says that you should wear a mask that covers both your nose and mouth, and it should be as thick AS YOU CAN TOLERATE AND SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN MAINTAIN 100% COMPLIANCE. The problem is that if the CDC set that guidance...the lazy folks of the world would just not use a mask. But the reasonable people of the world would maintain compliance and limit spread...like they are already doing.
 
I heard this claim about masks being required even after the pandemic from someone else. But, I've never actually seen this on any TV, Twitter, newspaper, news network, etc. What is this coming from and who is saying it?
 
I thought I read that a virus that kills people is actually less successful than a virus that does not. If you kill your host, you die too. So a more successful virus is one that can replicate easier and not kill its hosts. Its goal is not to kill, but to flourish.

COVID is an incredibly smart virus because it spreads before someone dies...or even becomes symptomatic for that matter. Whether or not the person lives is inconsequential to the virus because by the time the person dies it has a new host. Now if it wipes out the entire population, then clearly that would be bad for business, but of course that's not happening. Most people are living with COVID...heck we probably all have some level of antibodies to COVID by this point...and we're still here.
 

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