The members of society who are most enthusiastic about wearing masks, who tout the scientific literature and medical guidelines dictated to them by health authorities, are often asking their fellow Americans to do far more than the law requires them to.
Scientific evidence has shown that fully vaccinated individuals are incredibly unlikely to contract COVID-19 and then spread it to someone else. The CDC shifted its guidance Tuesday to reflect that and declared that vaccinated Americans can go without a mask under certain circumstances outside, but some ardent pro-maskers are still going further.
In addition to being at minimal risk once vaccinated, research also indicates that the chances of spreading COVID-19 while outside is far lower than when inside. Still, many Americans weighed on to say that they weren’t going to stop wearing a mask outside, and others shouldn’t, either. (RELATED: Journalists, Political Commentators Mock CDC’s New Guidance Of Mask Wearing For Vaccinated Americans)
3/ I still plan on keeping a mask with me at all times when I’m outside. I’ll put it on anytime I’m around other people, whether they’re masked or not. They may be vaccinated, they may not. They may be immunocompromised, or simply uncomfortable around maskless people.
— Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) April 27, 2021
For what it’s worth, I still wear my mask outside in Brooklyn, because it’s a strong social norm, people are anxious, and I’m not trying to exacerbate anyone else’s fears after a year of anxiety, illness, and death. Being decent is good and fine! But I do hope this norm shifts.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) April 22, 2021
Even prior to the CDC’s relaxed guidance being announced, state government mask mandates weren’t as strict as these individuals would apparently like them to be. 25 states and the District of Columbia still have a mask mandate of some kind in place, but not a single one requires residents to wear a mask at all times when outside.
Some of them only require masks indoors. Others vary for outdoor activities, depending on whether or not social distancing is possible or if people from different households are inter-mingling. But none require constant masking, and notably, none require double-masking. (RELATED: CDC Walks Back Comments From Director Rochelle Walensky Suggesting Vaccinated People Don’t Become Infected Or Transmit The Virus)
Even some of the states associated with the harshest lockdown measures don’t require constant outdoor masking for everyone. Washington, D.C. only mandates outdoor masking if someone is “likely to come into contact with another person, such as being within six feet of another person for more than a fleeting time.”
California doesn’t require outdoor masking if people can instead social distance or only associate with members of their household. New York mandates masks when in a public place where social distancing can’t be maintained.
National political figures still aren’t giving up on outdoor double masking though. The night that the CDC relaxed its guidelines, MSNBC’s Joy Reid went on her primetime show to declare that she still went for a run outside with two masks on, despite being fully vaccinated for weeks.
The CDC already stated that masks aren’t necessary if someone is performing a strenuous physical activity that may make it difficult to breathe, particularly when outdoors. The organization also said before loosening its guidance that wearing a mask when alone outside wasn’t necessarily required. (RELATED: Trump’s Health Officials Downplayed The Virus. Now Biden’s Downplay The Vaccine)
Even with all of that guidance in place, the overwhelming scientific evidence that outdoor spread is low and vaccinated spread is almost nonexistent, and the lack of government mandates compelling continued vigilance, some Americans are refusing to return to life as normal.