July 20, 2021
Are Masks About to Become Permanent?
By
Brian C.Joondeph, MD
Much of the world’s media is spewing nothing but gloom and doom over the Chinese coronavirus, that the worst is yet to come. NBC newsreader Lester Holt recently
interviewed CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. When Holt asked her, “Is this becoming a worst-case scenario?” she replied, “Unfortunately no I think things can still get worse.” Is that true?
Most Americans have had at least one
COVID-19 vaccine, specifically 56 percent receiving at one dose with partial immunity and 48 percent fully vaccinated. Of the most vulnerable over age 65 population, 79 percent have been fully and 89 percent at least partially vaccinated.
The CDC “estimates about 35% of all Americans have been infected with COVID-19 over the last year.” Even with some overlap between those previously infected and those vaccinated, 80 to 90 percent of Americans have either natural or vaccination immunity to the Chinese coronavirus.
What ever happened to the basic concept of herd immunity? The media refuses to discuss it as suddenly this basic concept of immunology is now QAnon or white supremacist conspiracy theory.
The Mayo Clinic explains,
Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected -- not just those who are immune.
There are two main paths to herd immunity for COVID-19 -- infection and vaccines.
Note infection and vaccines. Why are we told that
vaccination is the only path to herd immunity? Are we there yet? It depends on who you ask and when. As the
New York Times notes,
Scientists initially estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the population needed to acquire resistance to the coronavirus to banish it. Now Dr. Anthony Fauci and others are quietly shifting that number upward.
Moving goalposts is Fauci’s new hobby. The goalposts are sifting again for masks. Why are we going backwards with mask mandates by masking up again despite most of the country having some degree of immunity?
As reported in the
Daily Mail, “Los Angeles orders EVERYONE to wear masks: County demands vaccinated residents to cover their faces indoors as Indian Delta variant spreads across the US.” What starts in California often spreads across the U.S.
If the vaccines work as advertised, why the masks for everyone? The unvaccinated can wear masks if they are at higher risk or concerned about exposure to COVID. But the vaccinated are protected. Do we walk under an umbrella on a clear day because it might rain, and one can never be too careful?
Too bad Lester Holt didn’t ask these types of questions of the CDC director. Or the obvious question of why vaccinated people need to wear masks contrary to her
CDC guidelines, “Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing.”
Early in the pandemic, Fauci was anti-mask, saying
masks were ineffective at protecting against the Wuhan flu virus. U.S.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams agreed. Fauci then changed his mind, recommending one then
two masks.
Now he is saying that, “fully vaccinated Americans should ‘go the extra step’ and wear masks when traveling to parts of the country with low vaccination rates.” Why? It’s the unvaccinated who are at risk, not the vaccinated. Are the vaccinated and immune spreading infection? Where is the science on that? If the vaccines are not protective, then why the push to get everyone vaccinated? How soon until we are told to shelter in place and avoid travel as has
become the norm again in some parts of Australia?
Why the new indoor mask mandate in LA?
Almost 70 percent of LA County residents have had at least one vaccine dose. As of six months ago, a third of LA Country residents have had COVID, that number undoubtedly higher now. So, who’s left to infect? Even with overlap between infected and vaccinated, most everyone in LA should have at least some immunity by now. Yet they are back to masks.
