Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 925 posts

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

#141

Post by dnautics »

quickthrowman wrote: post #125
TimothyBJacobs wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That assumes that the vaccine is 100% effective, and that everyone who is at risk can safely take the vaccine. Neither of those are true.

Neither of them need to be true for a critical mass of vaccinated people to demand for restrictions to be rescinded. Eventually politicians will realize they need to get re-elected and cave to pressure. It will happen, especially with this new guidance from the CDC. I would bet there are no state wide mask mandates by Jan 1, 2022. Edit: Minnesota will be ending their mask mandate tomorrow.

I'll be surprised if there are any state wide mandates on July 31

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

#142

Post by ineedasername »

wyldfire wrote: post #94
ineedasername wrote: post #91

I don't really understand how places looking to align their precautions with CDC guidelines can do this. We don't have any required vaccination "passport", so if a movie theatre says vaccinated customers don't have to wear masks, how can they possibly tell who is vaccinated without relying on a dubious honor system?

The dubious honor system that we relied upon for all the other vaccines?

For things like MMR we don't really need the honor system because the vast majority of the population has been vaccinated and we're pretty much at herd immunity.

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

#143

Post by daenz »

cochne wrote: post #132
daenz wrote: 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…

>it is only saying that if everyone is vaccinated then it is safe.

Right, but like the previous poster said, we have no way of verifying. Maybe people do, but I don't think everyone carries their vaccination card with them, so how are establishments going to verify? They'll probably ask, and accept the answer. And as people are starting to point out, the unvaccinated will just lie. My point is that the CDC must have played this same thought experiment, but they are issuing these guidelines regardless.

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

#144

Post by waiseristy »

atomicnumber3 wrote: post #134
waiseristy wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This right here is the argument, and has been since February 2020. We got a little lost along the way, but our original social measures to reduce the spread of COVID was due to our inability to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Now that we have the vaccines, we have no moral reason to now baby the people who refuse to protect themselves.

Children can't get vaccinated yet, though, and I do still want to protect them. It's why my wife and I, though fully vaccinated, haven't totally returned to normal, since our toddler and infant are still susceptible.

Good point! And I don't want to imply that the only people left without a vaccine are those who "refuse" it. We're not there yet, but were close! Stay safe!

(what in the world is going on with downvotes in this thread? Are HNers really unable to have difficult conversations?)

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

#145

Post by robbrown451 »

I wish it was common and expected that those that want to go maskless, wear their vaccination cards around their necks. Not a requirement, but just having it be common enough that if you do, people will know what it means.

Here in San Francisco, more than 50% of people are fully vaccinated, but everyone is still wearing masks, even outdoors. I don't think it is just that SF hasn't changed the mandate, it is more about social pressure.

And I say that while at the same time, being proud to live in the big city that has done the best (i.e. least per capita deaths of any US large city), thanks to a culture of taking the pandemic seriously. But I'm ready to take advantage of being vaccinated, without people crossing the sidewalk to avoid me or otherwise getting looks.

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

#146

Post by [deleted] »

machello13 wrote: post #41
abduhl wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think that the continual dehumanization of people into creatures with eyes, hair, and without emotions is a downside to wearing a mask in public? A smile as you hold the elevator door for someone goes unseen; all the other person gets is a withering stare from behind a sterile surgeon's mask. A joke that's good enough to make someone grin but not laugh is now a joke that falls flat on its face. An inappropr…

You can easily tell whether someone is smiling or not underneath a mask, and I think most people have learned to "smile with their eyes" to make it even more obvious. It's not that big a deal.

[deleted]

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

#147

Post by toast0 »

ajayjain wrote: post #102
hodgesrm wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Berkeley 94707 zip code was already at 98% of eligible population with at least one shot on April 30th. [1] I would guess a number of cities will be overall in the 90% range pretty soon. [1] https://abc7news.com/california-vaccination-rate-sf-vaccine-...

Zooming in, their map reports that vaccination rates in 94707 are now over 100% -- it's the gray region north of UC Berkeley. Perhaps folks are commuting in to 94707 to receive doses?

These numbers are most likely people vaccinated whose address on the paperwork was zip code Z divided by census? population estimate of people who live in zip code Z.

There's lots of fun ways those numbers can be messed up including (but not limited to), people using a mailing address different from where they reside, census boundaries not matching mail delivery route boundaries, population movements, how people without mailing addresses are counted, data issues in the census, etc.

In the US, we have a lack of enthusiasm for comprehensive and compulsary tracking of where people reside, and as a result, data like this is always going to be messy.

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

#148

Post by samatman »

robbrown451 wrote: post #145

I wish it was common and expected that those that want to go maskless, wear their vaccination cards around their necks. Not a requirement, but just having it be common enough that if you do, people will know what it means. Here in San Francisco, more than 50% of people are fully vaccinated, but everyone is still wearing masks, even outdoors. I don't think it is just that SF hasn't changed the mandate, it is more abou…

Early in the pandemic, I was That Guy. I was the only person wearing a mask in O'Hare in mid-February, when I was flying to my new home.

I was That Guy in the grocery store, and CostCo, and at the bank. For almost a month.

Oh I got looks. Lots of sidelong glances. Back then I think people subconsciously (or maybe consciously sometimes) figured the mask meant I was diseased. People would physically move away from me. Good! They were standing too close.

Just, show some spine. Be That Guy. You're vaccinated, act like it.

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

#149

Post by grogenaut »

bostonsre wrote: post #131
listless wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the important thing is that the vaccine is available. They chose not to take it. The argument that we need to keep each other safe no longer holds.

Really hoping that the majority of those that haven't been vaccinated are just lazy and not scared of the vaccine. Hopefully this is enough of a carrot, but also hope this doesn't embolden those that haven't been vaccinated and don't plan on it from going mask-less in public when they previously were wearing masks.

In WA it only recently opened up to all, and even those with early access may still be working on a full course. I just finished my full course because I had early access due to volunteer work. So we're not quite through those who are choosing not to take it here. Soon tho it will be all down to choice here.

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

#150

Post by josephcsible »

bryant wrote: post #135
interviewer0000 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

> 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.
Post reply on HN