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Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

nytimes.com

181–190 of 925 posts

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#181
post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

12 - 15 years olds can now get the Pfizer vaccine in the United States[1]. That should help a lot. [1]: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05/fda-authorizes-pfize...

Not really, < 12 is a big concern.

How so? The risk of a bad outcome from children under 12 catching COVID is basically nil.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#182
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For what it's (not) worth, it prompted me to sign up today. :) More for my understanding than anything else, and with every guarantee that I won't present any follow-up questions or statements, but why was this the tipping point and not the actual disease risk mitigation resulting from the vaccine?

My guess: GP is young and healthy, so the chance of significant harm from COVID is nearly zero, and the vaccines for COVID have significantly worse side effects than pretty much any other vaccines given today. Thus, until today, it was a high-risk low-reward proposition.

The risk and severity of bad effects from COVID exceed the risks and severity of the bad effects from the vaccine across all age categories.

It is a low-risk, higher-reward proposition for everyone.

And even if all the virus does is fry your sense of smell you're better off with a few days of influenza-like symptoms from the vaccines.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#183
post #124

How is this not the top story on every single news aggregator in the world right now? This is like the BEST news since the vaccines were approved. This is a HUGE deal. Great job, CDC!

Because masks haven been politicized. Good news be damned.

The real problem to solve is how does America (maybe other countries idk) recover from this intense polarization that only increased in the last year. Personally this has given me a new perspective on alot of people

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#184
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that guidance was based upon a prioritization necessity to make sure that medical first responders had access to PPE. Once the supply of PPE was great enough the guidance was also changed

The problem is they didn't say "masks work but please save them for first responders until we get more." They said "masks don't work." You can argue they may have had a good reason to lie, but you can't argue that they didn't lie.

Medical specialists were concerned about incorrect usage of masks, which may increase risks of infection. Later studies contradicted those fears somewhat.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess: GP is young and healthy, so the chance of significant harm from COVID is nearly zero, and the vaccines for COVID have significantly worse side effects than pretty much any other vaccines given today. Thus, until today, it was a high-risk low-reward proposition.

The risk and severity of bad effects from COVID exceed the risks and severity of the bad effects from the vaccine across all age categories. It is a low-risk, higher-reward proposition for everyone. And even if all the virus does is fry your sense of smell you're better off with a few days of influenza-like symptoms from the vaccines.

You can't just weigh "The risk and severity of bad effects from COVID" with "the risks and severity of the bad effects from the vaccine". You also need to factor in that the probability of an unvaccinated person getting COVID isn't 100%.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#186
post #3

It’s good to give better incentives for people to be vaccinated, as many have urged for some time. I worry this carrot isn’t tied to an adequate stick - the unvaccinated can simply go without a mask regardless of their status. Will this move actually counter our slowing vaccination rates?

> the unvaccinated can simply go without a mask regardless of their status.

Oh, the humanity.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#187
post #3

It’s good to give better incentives for people to be vaccinated, as many have urged for some time. I worry this carrot isn’t tied to an adequate stick - the unvaccinated can simply go without a mask regardless of their status. Will this move actually counter our slowing vaccination rates?

For what it's (not) worth, it prompted me to sign up today. :)

Kind of curious why you waited so long? Most people I know who are refusing are Trump followers and simply believe it's all a hoax. Literally all of it.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#188
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Devil's advocate: people who say "trust the science/scientists" should do so even when they themselves disagree. I don't know your position, but I have seen similar responses to yours from people who I know have taken the position of "trust the scientists." Don't you think that the smart folks at the CDC have gone through a similar thought process as you and are issuing these guidelines regardless? Why would we not t…

I consider myself very "science minded", which is why I absolutely hate the phrase "trust the scientists." Primarily because science is all about having a healthy skepticism, and if anything it's about trusting the scientific process (even then, "trust" is a not a great word here - we "trust" the scientific process because history shows it works). The CDC has made plenty of mistakes and mishaps during this pandemic,…

When a lot of people and organizations say "trust the scientists", it seems what they actually mean/do is "trust the scientists when they say we need tighter restrictions, but ignore the scientists when they say we can loosen restrictions".

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#189
post #132
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Devil's advocate: people who say "trust the science/scientists" should do so even when they themselves disagree. I don't know your position, but I have seen similar responses to yours from people who I know have taken the position of "trust the scientists." Don't you think that the smart folks at the CDC have gone through a similar thought process as you and are issuing these guidelines regardless? Why would we not t…

The CDC is not recommending that all establishments allow people without masks though, it is only saying that if everyone is vaccinated then it is safe. If there is no way to guarantee that all are vaccinated, then this does not translate into a recommendation to drop a mask requirement. Consider a parallel. the CDC might say if an HIV+ person is taking some treatment, it is safe to have sexual relations with them. B…

I read their release carefully. They didn't say that. They said that an individual if vaccinated does not need to mask. They said nothing about everyone in a space needing to be vaccinated in order for anyone to not mask.

Re: Vaccinated Americans now may go without masks in most places, the CDC said

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except it's not really "on you". If you're sick, masks protect other people from you getting them sick too. So if an irresponsible unvaccinated anti-masker goes to the theatre and there's an unvaccinated but responsibly mask-wearing person, the unmasked person can get them sick. The responsible person pays the price.

I don't think it is responsible in the slightest to go to a crowded movie theater, unvaccinated, only wearing a paper mask. Even more so when a safe an effective vaccine is available. I understand your point, but this road goes both ways.

Do you think that no children under 12 should be going to movie theaters today? Because none of them are allowed to be vaccinated yet.
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