Public Health Law vs. Individual Advice: Why Discarding Indoor Mask Mandates Is a Mistake

[boston bean]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors in most cases.

The agency has emphasized that this is merely guidance, and is not intended to affect public policy or to change practices of private companies. But it is naïve to imagine that health departments and private organizations will not make changes in response to the announcement.

There is a growing public wish to put COVID-19 behind us by eliminating visible signs that it still exists (e.g., mask wearing). But guidance driven by this magical thinking will cause unnecessary harm. Public health measures should protect the larger population, including those who cannot be or have not yet been vaccinated. This CDC guidance proffers individual advice at the expense of the goals of public health.

Public Health vs. Individual Advice
As a matter of advice to individuals who have been full vaccinated, the news that they no longer have to wear masks in places where they are at lower risk of infection is reassuring and good to hear. But, as a matter of federal guidance that will be translated into public health law and used as basis for challenging or removing mask mandates, it’s a mess on several levels.

First and foremost, it shifts the responsibility of protecting people still vulnerable to COVID-19 from the state to the very individuals who can cause the most harm. Whether the harm comes from unvaccinated individuals who choose not to wear masks as a matter of principle, or who simply leave the house without one, or from vaccinated individuals who are still able to transmit the virus, the danger is the same. There will always be people who cannot be vaccinated, whether because of a medical condition, or simply because they are too young.

Nor does it make any sense to suggest that those who are worried should wear masks themselves and leave others to do as they wish. First, there will, again, always be people, such as babies, who simply cannot wear a mask.

https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2021/05/13/public-health-law-vs-individual-advice-why-discarding-indoor-mask-mandates-is-a-mistake/

[colsohlibgal]

1. Oh Yes

My first thought was that unvaccinated Trump types will take advantage of this. There is no way to tell outwardly whether a person is vaccinated or not.

[SoCalNative]

3. Well, if they're wearing MAGA gear

it's a pretty good bet that they are not vaccinated.

[Claire Oh Nette]

9. I thought this, too

Seems to me lifting mask mandates for the vaccinated is the first step toward private businesses beginning to ask for proof of vaccine. Only when the maskholes are left out and can't fly, dine, stay in hotels, enroll their kids in school...

At some point, liability insurance will require this to protect business owners from the very people who will contract COVID because they refuse to mask. It's going to be an economic thing.

FDA approval is coming, and "emergency use" authorization fears will dissipate.

[RegularJam]

2. At some point the shift has to happen.

Now seems like a good time. And yes, it will do away with most mask mandates. Some business entities will still require it.

I also don't see it as an individual advice policy. I see it as an overall public health policy. There is no waiting for enough people to get vaccinated. Enough have been vaccinated that we should not have a massive run on the hospitals. Too many have decided to not get vaccinated and we need covid to run it's course through many of them. If not, we don't get to where we need to be.

The argument of those who cannot be vaccinated is individual in nature. It's an extremely small group within those unvaccinated. Society will not be taking measures to protect them. They will be given guidance on protecting themselves.

I'm all about masks and social distancing. I also realize it's over. There is what we want and then there is reality. We put up a great fight to do what's right. I'm proud of how we fought. My great fear now is that those resistant are now simply encouraging variants at our expense.

[Phoenix61]

10. Your last sentence. They will become viral vectors

who will, eventually, put us right back to where we were. All of us vulnerable to covid until they can get out the next vaccine. Huge mistake on the CDC’s part. And no, “enough of us have been vaccinated” simply isn’t true. In a few states, yes but many are no where near that point.

[RegularJam]

11. I don't see it as a mistake by the CDC.

Yes, enough of us been vaccinated that there won’t be a run on hospitals. You can say that isn’t accurate but facts prove you wrong. Please show me the state you feel hospitals will now become over capacity. It’s not going to happen. You need to look at vaccination rates among age groups, the history of age groups being hospitalized, and where we stand today.

The variants are my fear. Our greatest risk of variants will come from other countries. I think variants should have been a message here from day one but that’s not possible under an administration that downplayed the virus. All of the unnecessary contagion leads to the increased possibility that f variants.

We have wishes and we have reality.

[Phoenix61]

12. I'm in Florida, so no, enough of us haven't been

vaccinated. We have the highest number of covid variants in the country. The summer tourist season is just getting started and we are wide open. Hospitalization rates are climbing for younger adults. Please read the article. Covid is changing and not in a good way. If people would get the vaccine it wouldn’t be a problem but way too many people here are still stuck on “it’s just like the flu” , or “ everyone who dies has covid on their death certificate even if they died in a car wreck” DeSatan will burn the state to the ground before he closes anything down.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/khn.org/news/article/covid-cases-hospitalizations-rise-in-younger-adults/amp/

[RegularJam]

13. I'm from FL as well.

Went to have dinner at Clearwater Beach on Weds at 6:30 in the evening and parking was at capacity. Every restaurant packed. Every bar packed. No hospital will hit capacity.

I seem to fully agree with you about variants.

I’m highly confident this is going to end up being treated somewhat similar to the seasonal flu, simply worse. In ten years there will be numerous vaccines to treat multiple variants. It will be an annual vaccine for most of us and required for almost no one. There is what I want to happen and then there is what’s really happening.

[Phoenix61]

16. I really wish I thought you were right,

but I don’t think you are. If DeSatan would respond to a surge in cases like a decent human being hospitals would be fine but he won’t. He’ll hide the numbers until after Labor Day so the tourism industry stays happy and the campaign donations keep rolling in.

[RegularJam]

17. What a piece of garbage that man is.

Every bit of him.

[dickthegrouch]

4. And India is still in full throes of a massive surge.

I’m wearing my mask until *I* feel safe. Which is probably another 6 months, minimum.
I’m a big boy I’ll weather any ridicule from the peanut gallery.

[crud]

5. weighing all the factors

The vaccinated people being able to go maskless is a great incentive for folks to get vaccinated, and will get a bunch more vaccinated (except for the antivaxer folks and maga idiots). That might be a bigger factor in reaching community immunity than other factors like mask wearing and social distancing. Maybe we have reached that particular tipping point in the pandemic.

[LisaL]

6. I don't believe it will be any kind of incentive, because they can just claim they are vaccinated.

Who is going to be checking?

[crud]

8. good point but we'll see what happens...

There might be a good sized group of folks relatively ambivalent or just procrastinating about getting vaccinated. Most people would rather follow the rules, and are uncomfortable lying in general.

If we assume that Biden folks are following science in this decision, that might be one of the factors. I'm just guessing, that this isn't totally about the science of transmission, and might be more about the science psychology.

[Klaralven]

7. It's a political sop to the DEST businesses (dining, entertainment, sports, and tourism).

[Hugin]

14. I'm afraid this is the case.

Rolling the dice is not science. It's some people's idea of how Wall Street works.

The very definition of regulatory capture.

[fescuerescue]

15. I'm vaccinated and immune. I've stopped worrying about what others do

If they don't want to be immune that's their business.

Besides - I really can't make anyone wear a mask, so why should I get myself in a tizzy over other peoples behavior that I cannot control?