What about those who feel safer when others wear them?
On May 18th Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order that bans government entities in the state from requiring face masks, and which fines those who do. It's seen as a most radical step towards offering Texans the ultimate choice over whether to wear face-coverings or not, removing the power for officials to enforce masks - or to face a $1,000 fine if they attempt to do so.
While many will applaud the move in giving them the freedom to follow recently released guidance from the CDC (under which the fully vaccinated can mix more freely and don't have to wear their masks any longer), it raises questions whether such freedoms are warranted as yet.
The US rollout of the Covid vaccination is going well by most measures - 276 million doses have been administered so far. But with progress now slowing and 1 in 4 Americans saying they don't intend to get vaccinated, can it really be determined that the nation is ready to relax measures to control the spread?
There still appears to be a way to go to achieve herd-immunity. Data comparing progress the world over suggests that the USA is currently running in third place, behind Israel and the United Kingdom - with just under 45% of the population having received at least one dose. Up to 95% of the population needs to be immune before herd immunity is effective.
Wearing masks to protect others
Another angle to the debate is whether it's right that those who don't yet feel comfortable around those who don't wear masks, or who have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus will feel protected and liberated by Abbott's executive order, or that it exposes them to greater risk?
The fundamental purpose of masks is to protect the mask-wearer from spreading any virus particles - protection from danger presented by others is a secondary benefit - something that's long been acknowledged by the CDC who express it as follows:
"When you wear a mask, you protect others as well as yourself. Masks work best when everyone wears one." - CDC mask guidance, updated April 2021
The same is true for vaccines. The aim of the shot is to protect the recipient from contracting the disease, but it also helps to hinder the spread of the virus to others and ultimately to kill off the pandemic.
While the New York Times reported that "one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 80 percent effective at preventing infection, and two doses were 90 percent effective", a vaccinated individual is still capable of carrying and passing on the virus to others even if they don't get sick themselves. This guidance has been emphasized many times in many publications.
The message then is clear - just because you are vaccinated, it doesn't prevent you from passing on the virus to others, nor does it remove the benefit of wearing a mask, if not for yourself then for others.
School children don't have to wear masks?
Following this logic through, it's interesting to note that Greg Abbot has explicitly called out that from June 4th school children will no longer be mandated to wear masks. Similarly, teachers (as government officials) won't be able to force mask wearing amongst students at pain of a $1,000 fine.
The implication is that teachers, support staff and other employees in schools will lose the freedom of choice about working in an environment where they feel a little safer through the kids being forced to wear masks.
- What about the freedom of choice for these Texans to feel safe and protected?
- What about the factor that kids will likely be the last to be vaccinated and not all of them will likely end up being protected (the same as amongst the adult population)?
- How about the issue that many kids who've contracted the virus are known to have experienced it asymptomatically and hence wouldn't appear to be sick?
We all want to get back to normal in life - and many feel excited about the prospect of not having to wear masks any longer. But as a fatal wave of the virus rips through India we have to consider if localized success in defeating the virus is really a sign that we should abandon protective measures that benefit ourselves and our community.
As time passes, we'll learn the impacts of this move for Texans - Hopefully it works out and the freedom of choice doesn't come at a fatal cost.