COVID TIMES: DITCH THE MASK? MAYBE

 Let's start with the stark and sobering numbers to-date reflecting the past 16 months:

1. Worldwide Reported Covid Cases: 164 million; Deaths: 3.4 million

2. U.S. Reported Covid Cases: 33 million; Deaths: 587,000

3. Washington State where I live: 426,000 reported cases; 5,700 deaths

4. My county: 37,931 reported cases; 579 deaths

Many of us (I wish I could say it was ALL) took this pandemic very, very seriously.  We followed each update with rapt attention and followed each revised list of protocols we could take to protect ourselves and others.  We stayed home, away from family and friends and community for weeks and then months (Zoom became our lifeline to seeing familiar faces and for work from home connections); we went out only for essentials -- groceries and medications and even some began to have groceries delivered; if we encountered another human, we stayed at least 6 feet from them, not touching and taking a wide berth. With businesses shuttered, we learned to cook again until we discovered take-out and tried to keep struggling restaurants afloat with the occasional order; we learned how to properly wash our hands (warm soapy water for 20 seconds); we had hand sanitizer all over the house and in the car; we wore masks...oh, those masks!

They became a flashpoint of ongoing political division.  The Covid-skeptics were mostly anti-maskers thinking those who wore them were over-reacting to a virus that they said was little more than the common flu.  (They get their M.D. degrees from FOX News.)  From the former president on down through the ranks of his administration and filtering in to his rabid followers, they belligerently refused to wear a mask and ridiculed those of us who did -- those of us following the advice of reputable doctors and scientists as we watched people being rushed to the ICU and/or knew the people who were dying.  Wearing a mask seemed such a simple, commonsense thing to do to protect ourselves, as well as for the common good.  

The common good.  Now there's an ideal that seems quaint in these days of choosing up sides and vociferously defending our positions.  Our country is divided along political, philosophical, and religious lines. Facts are debated as if they have no basis and any errant interpretation or complete dismissal of same is accepted as valid. There is no trust in institutions. Conspiracy theories get indulged at best, taken seriously at worst.  Some days I feel there is no commonalty.  Nor any good.

But here we are anyway.  Scientists kept plugging away in their labs as the rest of us duked it out on the culture wars front in social media and on Cable TV.  They came up with vaccines in record time and once the Biden Administration took over with a plan for distribution, Americans started lining up for the shot.  As more and more people were vaccinated, the numbers of new cases and deaths started to edge downward.  As the vaccines were studied in real life, and not just in clinical trials, doctors saw that they were even more effective than they'd previously hoped!  There was reason for optimism if we could just hold the line a bit longer; just keep those masks on until a majority of people were vaccinated and we could claim some victory over our Covid foe.

Then, last week, the CDC got up one morning and declared: "If  you are fully vaccinated you no longer need to wear a mask!" They indicated that vaccinated people are about 95% safe from this virus infecting us or making us seriously ill or dying.  Well, that's good news!  But those who remain unvaccinated should continue to mask and distance and do all the things -- that includes those unable to be vaccinated for some underlying medical reason, those children under 12 who do not yet qualify until new vaccines are approved for young kids, and those who...yes, refuse the vaccine -- the anti-vaxxers in general and the anti-Covid vaxxers in particular, who believe any number of crazy things including that Microsoft is injecting tracking devices in all of us or some such nonsense.  

The trick now is how to tell the difference from those who are vaccinated from those who are not, because even though the "nots" are to continue to wear masks, we know most won't -- they never did unless forced to by municipal policies that mandated it, like going into stores.  But stores, restaurants, etc are now announcing no more masks, so here we are.  The virus will continue to spread among the unvaccinated and I worry they will pass it on to the innocently vulnerable.  

Plus, it's weird.  The mask had become a symbol of having some modicum of control over the unseen viral enemy.  The mask had become part of our wardrobe, of getting dressed to go out, of telling the world we cared and were in this together (well, some of us). Suddenly to be told all that is over now and we can change the way we've lived and worked and functioned for almost a year and a half leaves some of us feeling confused. The science says our bodies are safe.  Our psychological response may be one of ambivalence, as we integrate the news that we are safe with the emotional familiarity of fear.  And that is OK.  

I think as summer arrives and we become more confident that the virus won't resurge with breakthrough infection of the vaccinated, or move to being more virulent among children, my masking impulse may start to fade.  But for now, baby steps.  

I know some will have mask burning rituals. For some the mask has been a prison, but for some it has taken on the "security blanket" role.  It's hard to have it yanked away like my mom decided to do with my ratty old "blankie" when I was six.  

Still, I have begun leaving my mask in my pocket on my daily walks.  I still wear it when entering public buildings.  My family is now all vaccinated, so we've ditched the mask for family gatherings.  I have taken it off when meeting with 1-2 friends at a time.  I'm considering going to an indoor restaurant just to see how that feels.  

I feel huge gratitude for those who worked so hard and sacrificed so much for us to have gotten to this place at all.  Gratitude to doctors, scientists, and sane politicians who made difficult protective policy. And gratitude to every single person who not only willingly, but eagerly, masked up to protect themselves, and me, and their community.  We might not all be in this together, but enough of us are that all of us will end up being OK.

At least, that's the view from here...©

Photo Credit; pixabay.com