New Mask Mandates Will Cause More Suffering and Increase Vaccine Hesitancy
The Elite class is now advocating for mask mandates for the vaccinated, a decision not based in science or data and one that will surely lead to more mass suffering and less vaccinations
Earlier this week, the CDC put out new guidance recommending that states and cities deemed “Covid-19 Hot Spots” reimpose mask mandates including for vaccinated people. This new guidance has led to many cities following through on bringing back mask mandates for all people indoors including areas of California, the Midwest, and Washington D.C. all citing the increase in cases as a result of the delta variant of Covid-19 as an issue for concern. While these mandates have yet to spread widely to many areas of the country, the Biden administration has already floated the idea of a federal mask mandate for all individuals regardless of vaccination status should cases continue to rise. All of this suggests that we could see a reintroduction of Covid restrictions as we go into the fall and winter even with the possibilities of new lockdowns in certain areas of the country which can and would prove extremely detrimental to millions of Americans.
While there are many issues with the reintroduction of mask mandates, the first and most glaringly obvious is that they in no way follow the actual science and data we have on the current spread of cases. When we look at the rise in case numbers, a large majority of new cases are among unvaccinated individuals, and over 99% of serious hospitalizations and deaths are from those unvaccinated. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has flip flopped on nearly every detail of the pandemic admitted that the current pandemic is almost exclusively a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”. Even among the areas with rising Covid cases such as Washington D.C. where mayor Muriel Bowser was quick to reintroduce a city wide mask mandate, the rise in Covid cases is still a small percentage of the peak early this year, and Covid deaths have essentially plateaued, with only 3 Covid-19 deaths in Washington D.C. in the past month (There was well over 50 for months straight at the peak of the pandemic).
This showcases an issue of statistical ignorance that has existed for well over a year now with how mainstream media outlets and organizations track the prevalence and danger of Covid-19. Rising Covid cases does not necessarily equate with increased danger. Since very early in the pandemic we have had a good understanding that the vast majority of serious complications and deaths due to Covid-19 were among the very old and immunocompromised. Meanwhile healthy individuals in lower age groups (largely 45-50 and under) were at no larger statistical risk than to that of a yearly flu. This risk is especially low (and thankfully so) among the very young with only 337 total deaths in the United States among those under 18, which brings into serious question regulations and demands surrounding school reopening’s (but more on that later). All of this is to say that case numbers do not innately correlate with risk, especially if the majority of new cases are among young and healthy individuals who do not come into contact with compromised folks.
Of course, none of this is to say that Covid is no longer something to worry about, especially for those of us with compromised friends and family members it is still very much a worry, however with widespread vaccinations available that make it almost statistically impossible to have serious complications from a Covid-19 infection (especially for the young in healthy), there is real reason to question any push for mandates and lockdowns to comeback. While earlier in the pandemic, before vaccines were widely rolled out, there was a largely good purpose to wearing masks, Covid-19 spreads largely asymptomatically and you never know who you might give it to and their possible condition. Throughout the pandemic the case was always that wearing masks (excluding N-95s) did not provide a tremendous amount of protection for yourself, but prevented you from spreading it to others, so in the interest of public safety if everyone wore masks in public areas indoors we could reduce spread. This math changes dramatically now that nearly every American has had ample access to a nearly foolproof way of protecting themselves from the virus, of course being vaccines.
While in the past, wearing masks were seen as somewhat of a courtesy to others, showing that you care as much about their health as you do about your own. But now with vaccines widely available, mandatory mask mandates serve the purpose of forcing you to care more about the health of someone else then they do about their own. This is in no way meant to be condescending to those who have not been vaccinated. For the vast majority of those who are not vaccinated they have made a calculated decision weighing the risk of possible Covid-19 and the risk of receiving a vaccine that has not received full FDA approval. There is no reason individuals should not be allowed to make this choice and be respected for their own decision, however that decision can come with consequences, and it is not the responsibility of vaccinated individuals to be punished by the government for the decisions of fellow citizens.
Many people who might claim to be more empathetic than I am would counter something along the lines of “but wearing a mask is a simple and easy way to save lives”. I would argue this logic lacks empathy because it assumes the unvaccinated want your protection when in reality most people in America, vaccinated or not simply crave a return to their normal lives that have been stripped away from them for well over a year in many areas as a result of lockdowns and mandates. This is not hyperbole. Aside from the loss of businesses, careers, emotional connection, and other outlets for many peoples mental health, we can see many ramifications of lockdowns in the form of a record 93,000 overdose deaths and widespread increases in domestic violence during the pandemic. The many confounding conditions of lockdowns during the pandemic have potentially the strongest effects on Gen Z, who have already been the loneliest and most mentally unwell generation in history even before the pandemic. School aged children have been especially hard hit by these complications while in many areas of the country kids have missed over an entire school year of in person learning, the effects of which have largely been underreported and will likely not be seen for years to come. Meanwhile teachers unions in some areas of the country have refused to return to in person teaching until all students are vaccinated, a stance that has zero scientific merit in the current United States where vaccinated teachers have almost zero risk from contracting Covid-19.
While people of all ages and walks of life have suffered from Covid-19 and government mandates meant to fight it, there has always been a lure of hope for a return to normal life. The Biden administration and the CDC have largely flaunted the vaccine as a ticket to return to normal life, promising that once enough people are vaccinated we can lift lockdowns and mandates. Now with returning mandates and the possibility of lockdowns including the vaccinated, many people no longer see the vaccine as a ticket to normal life, and it is hard to argue against. Meanwhile the Biden Administration and allies in the media have took aim at right wing media and “misinformation” on social media platforms as the primary blame for lack vaccinations (and as a result a proxy scapegoat for returning mandates). Joe Biden himself has said that Facebook is “killing people” and press secretary Jen Psaki has made authoritarian remarks about helping social media companies ban individuals who spread misinformation. Meanwhile, polling shows that the majority of unvaccinated individuals in the country are actually people of color, especially Black Americans (who overwhelmingly vote Democrat) as well as large amounts of major cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago where upwards of 50% of people remain unvaccinated. Like I said before, there is no reason to blame or mock individuals who are not vaccinated, most of them have made an educated choice, but if the Biden administration wants to get more people vaccinated the current strategy of blaming Facebook for killing people and blaming Republicans is clearly not going to work.
Instead if we really want to get more people vaccinated, and as a result take more control over the spread of the pandemic, there are some really simple steps those in power can take to help quell vaccine hesitancy. The top of the list is abandoning authoritarian mandates for vaccinated individuals and threats of renewed lockdowns. The current messaging of the Biden administration and others provides incongruous reasoning for people who are vaccine hesitant. They claim the vaccine is perfectly safe to take, necessary, and will keep you from getting sick from Covid, but you will still be subject to mask mandates and other regulations regardless. This mixed messaging breeds uncertainty, which among the current unvaccinated population who is already skeptical, will be tough to convince more people to take the vaccine.
Public health officials need to recognize the cost of lockdowns and promise that as long as the vaccines give adequate protection, there will be no more lockdowns or mandates for the vaccinated. Finally, if we really want to get more shots and peoples arms then it is time for elites to stop condescending to the unvaccinated as if they are too stupid to know what is good for themselves. People have a right to autonomy and the mere threat of authority can push many further from vaccines. If we want people to get vaccinated we need to actually empathize with their concerns, provide evidence to counter their worries (or potentially evidence of the dangers of contracting Covid), and perhaps most important of all, respect their decision regardless.