They're Vaccinated and Keeping Their Masks On, Maybe Forever

[diehardblue]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/theyre-vaccinated-and-keeping-their-masks-on-maybe-forever/ar-BB1gOLeL?ocid=mailsignout&li=BBnb7Kz

Whenever Joe Glickman heads out for groceries, he places an N95 mask over his face and tugs a cloth mask on top of it. He then pulls on a pair of goggles.

He has used this safety protocol for the past 14 months. It did not change after he contracted the coronavirus last November. It didn’t budge when, earlier this month, he became fully vaccinated. And even though President Biden said on Thursday that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear a mask, Mr. Glickman said he planned to stay the course.

[marie999]

1. I am so used to wearing a mask I don't know when I will stop.

I know it won't be before our great-grandchildren, ages 2-14, are vaccinated.

[Klaralven]

2. Why go back to perennial colds and flu?

[John Ludi]

3. I'm

still wearing double masks indoors...but I used to triple-mask AND wear goggles before I got the vax. I've ditched the goggles at this juncture, and don't wear masks outdoors except for allergy prevention (which has been a great part of wearing them).

I'm fully confident that the anti-vaxxers/anti-maskers will be able to cough up a variant that makes me go right back to my hazmat getup though...the morons.

[EYESORE 9001]

4. I have another reason for continuing to wear a mask

I’ve been told that my ‘poker face’ is seriously deficient, and if I’m wearing a mask in public, all I have to do is avoid saying ‘fuck you’ with my eyes.

Oh, the health thingie is a good reason as well.

[arlyellowdog]

6. Yep, I'm with you (and the health thing, too)

[samnsara]

5. Fully vaxed but i will wear my mask into an establishment and remove it/ wear it as needed inside...

..i dont frequent bars (well, a wine bar..does that count?) and we have only eaten in restaurants twice over the last 15 months and one of those times was outside. I didnt attend the May 1 wedding of a friends daughter...even tho it was outside I was pretty much right on when I checked out the photos on FB and NOT ONE mask..lots of cowboy hats tho. There are a cpl places in town where the owners bragged about no masks required and those are places I dont normally go into anyway.
So..my typical pre covid behavior kept me away from questionable places in the first place.

I will not feel comfortable dropping some precautions until I see the GLOBAL numbers drastically decrease....and Im not donating my hoard of non perishables to the Food Bank just yet.

[Siwsan]

7. I've been called irrational for wanting to continue wearing a mask in stores

I just don't mind wearing them, for several reasons. The main one being I've been cold virus free, for over a year. Even after I retired and got out of that recirculated office air, I still came down with at least 2 colds a year.

Since so much of the world is still unvaccinated, this virus isn't going anywhere, anytime soon and will keep mutating so they are constantly going to have to keep researching the adaptability and effectiveness of the initial vaccines.

No doubt a majority of the unvaccinated are going to ditch their masks, so who knows what we will be seeing, in about a month. Especially if that new variant starts to rapidly spread.

[roamer65]

15. You are not irrational, you are SMART!

There are other viruses that a mask will help stop.

[Siwsan]

16. Thanks. I was offended, that's for sure.

Not sure why I would let a stranger's insults bother me that much. Time to remember what my dad always said: "Think of it like water off of a duck's back."

I'm hoping the disposable masks start going on sale. They are a bit more comfortable. I'm also holding on to ALL of my cloth masks.

[roamer65]

17. My attitude toward maskholes.

Fuck em.

[tanyev]

8. More power to him, but I wonder how he got infected if he's been that diligent for 14 months.

[Throck]

12. Hand washing and contaminated surfaces are always a factor.

[Hugin]

13. I was curious about that, too.

Although, since the severity of infection from the COVID virus seems to be related to the level of the inoculating dose. Perhaps, that is why he wasn't more ill or in the hospital.

He could have also contracted it from someone within his pod where he isn't as careful about PPE. Unfortunately, this is the most common means of transmission. Also, good that he was wearing his mask when going out with an infection.

Or, maybe his memory of his actions isn't that good, I know I've been dealing with people who sincerely THINK they are following the protocols and aren't without constant reminders. It is exhausting keeping up with these, while still caring for yourself. The scary part about this is these people are mainly older or have other disabilities.

[tanyev]

14. Yeah, I'm thinking getting it from someone he knows

who assured him they were being as diligent as him is the most likely possibility.

[myohmy2]

9. and...

...you'll catch less colds and flu...(and other kooties)

...I haven't had a sore throat or cold in over a year and a half...

...I must be healthier...

[ecstatic]

10. Whoa, that's a lot.

A few say they’ve been surprised to find that they’ve grown to enjoy being hidden behind a mask, expressionless and anonymous.

“As a woman, we feel like we have to, when we go out in public, put on a little bit of makeup, eyeliner, blush,” said Keela Samis, 57, an attorney from St. Petersburg, Fla., who is vaccinated and does not plan to stop wearing a mask. “With a mask I don’t have to. It simplified my life.”

Lol. I can relate, but I want to get back to a balanced state of being. Right now, I do feel vulnerable without the mask on, but I'm not ready to spend the rest of my life behind a mask. The guy referenced in the article was double masked with an n95 and still caught it. He survived. Now he's vaccinated, and hopefully double protected.

I will continue to wear a surgical mask when visiting my parents or other older adults, and will probably wear an n95 at the airport, on planes and at the beauty salon, but not at the supermarket (unless I look a mess and don't want to be seen).

[moriah]

11. I won't judge anyone who isn't ready/comfortable w/o one.

In my state, I know we likely never will achieve "herd immunity".

So yeah, even though I'm vaccinated, what I'm having to count on is the vaccine's ability to keep me from getting hospitalized/going on a vent if I catch it. Since this poor guys got the virus even with a far more intensive facial protection routine than I use, with all the idiots going around my state saying "That vaccine is EEEEEVIL!" or "I'll take my chances" or "until it's fully FDA approved vs emergency use authorization so if it messes me up I get compensated" (yes all arguments I've heard)....

Well, I can't count on the people around me to be vaccinated. It's still potentially possible that I, as a vaccinated person, could get an asymptomatic infection after an exposure that does incubate enough virus to harm someone. And I feel bad about that.

But I have a feeling around August I will have decided that those who have decided to not get the shot had enough opportunity to get it here. I'll still mask up anytime I'm in a business were employees are masked -- it's a solidarity thing. I know that pharmacies and other health care buildings will probably still require masks, because sick people go there as well as people who don't need to get sick. I have zero issues there.

But outdoors in our August humidity? If it's a large enough thing where I'd feel unsafe without a mask, I'll probably just skip the event. I only had difficulties wearing a mask outdoors when it felt like I was already breathing/walking through soup.

I feel bad for my "I got mine" attitude, and I want to give people who have lives time to get to two 20-minute appointments.

But eventually I am going to feel like since I know I can't depend on the die-hard conservatives under 65 in my state to get vaccinated cuz they're idiots, I can't rely on the herd immunity that mass vaccination offers to avoid getting infected at all. Instead, I will just have to hope that if I do get it, it's not as bad as it would have been without the shot.

[dalton99a]

18. The freedom of mask wearers should be respected in America.

Covid or no Covid, mask wearers are a common sight in Asia - and nobody cares, nobody asks why they wear masks