I like wearing it and I don’t trust other people or variants.

It is the combination of current community risk and vaccination level.

I'm looking for fewer than 50 cases /100,000 on a 2-week basis + at least 70% vaccinated.

So I'm thinking I'll wear it when grocery shopping for another month or so. Basically, Memorial Day Weekend plus two weeks.

I'll stop wearing it at work if they'll let me

I doubt they will be anywhere near acceptable by memorial day.

if I don't, I won't.

I've been fully vaccinated, but it hasn't even been a day yet since the CDC lifted the mandate. I don't "feel" comfortable going anywhere without a mask. Is it not my choice?

whether or not I "feel" like it

*done here*

I have never worn a mask outdoors unless I am around crowds, and I have not been around a crowd for over a year. If I went for a walk I carried a mask but never wore it and if you spoke to someone it was at a distance.

and around people I don't know, also on mass transit.

I am immune compromised so even though I'm fully vaccinated I still need to be somewhat careful.

Also, I want to reassure the folks at my grocery store and pharmacy. They can't tell I've been vaccinated, so why stress them out any more than they already are?

One is made from the sticker they gave me when I got my 1st shot. I made one that looks like an "I Voted" sticker and was putting the finishing touches on it when Lawrence O'Donnell said he wished he had a sticker like that. I plan on wearing it along with my anti-tRump mask...seems like a good combination for now anyway, at least indoors.

A little more insurance never hurts, and it's not like wearing a mask is hard.

Before being fully vaccinated, I know how I felt seeing people out and about without a mask. I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable so the mask stays on, even though I am done with two week waiting period after the second shot.

Picked the 4th option because my feelings may change as more and more people here are fully vaccinated and going maskless. My area is doing pretty well on that front!

I feel like there is right wing and big money pressure on decisions like the CDC made.

I am fine continuing with masking. I'd rather be masked and safe, than sick - or make anyone else sick.

But happy to wear it anywhere that requests it or if others are uncomfortable

Masked in large gatherings. And generally in public

a lot fewer infections, and a whole lot more data.

If a maskhole accost me for wearing a mask, I’m going to say “My body, my choice”.

That’s what I did regarding getting the vaccine. Whatever happens as far as exposure to the virus will be covered. If the news is as good as it was about any side effects from the vaccine then I’ll stop wearing the mask and staying home for the most part.

I will also trust that the vaccine will overcome the virus if I do get sick. It is science data after all, and so far so good.

But that's beside the point. If you are fully vaccinated then you are protected from those people so it doesn't matter if you trust them or not.

There remains a tiny (and shrinking) possibility that a fully vaccinated individual can still catch the virus and even die from it. But the likelihood is passingly remote.

The risk is very likely well below many risks that we accept every day without concern (like walking downstairs in your home or driving a car to work) and the fear is approaching a line of rational/irrational.

BUT... all they're doing is wearing a mask and/or asking me to wear one around them. They aren't asking me to get rid of my car or rebuild my home without stairs. The fear might be "irrational", but it's inconsequential... and a civilized society should be a civil society.

But myself, I am willing to accept minimal risks. For instance, I drive to and from work five days a week even though there is always a slight chance that I might be killed in an auto accident. But I am willing to take that risk. I am also willing to accept the very slight risk that I could get a breakthrough infection after getting fully vaccinated for Covid.

I am willing to take a chance and drive to work five days a week even though there is a slight chance each time that I drive that I could be killed in an auto accident. And if someone else has irrational fear, that's a matter between them and their therapist and it has nothing to do with me.

I am unsure if some people understand what the vaccine does for themselves.

~
...the government's scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage) says there is a "realistic possibility" it could spread 50% faster, which is a lot.
~
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57119579

If they stop asking then on weekdays I certainly won’t. On weekends when it is crowded I might.

We’ve been eating out in distanced restaurants well before we were vaccinated if the staff wore masks. If the restaurant does not ask I wear a mask I won’t. If it’s super crowded I might pass.

Super crowded bar? Haven’t been to them in 20 years so not an issue. Same with concerts.

The main thing I will do is keep looking at the data. Currently if vaccinated there is a 1 in 10,000 chance of catching Covid. A pretty much one in one million chance of dying. I’m fine with those odds. If that starts to change my reaction might as well.

By the CDC as I have since the beginning of the pandemic. Why is DU seeming to becoming anti-science?

People haven't worn them all throughout human history and people are still here. And yes, I have a reason for hating masks. I wear glasses and it's a huge PITA wearing a mask AND glasses. It's uncomfortable and my glasses fog up every time I exhale.

In a store where they request mask wearing, sure. I wear a shirt and shoes as well.

My boss was wearing a mask when visiting a wastewater facility. His glasses fogged up and he fell on an uneven concrete surface. Got his face pretty well cut up, fortunately nothing more serious.

I don’t need to wear one as I am fully vaccinated. Do you not trust the science as articulated by the CDC?

So, a few weeks ago, the director of the CDC, Dr Walensky, goes on Rachel’s show and says you cannot catch the virus if you are vaccinated and Rachel copied her & said the same thing (which really disappointed me in Rachel who I have loved from her Air America days) and then the next day the CDC has to, of course, take it back because everyone knows there are breakthroughs and the CDC even keeps a list of breakthroughs. Duh!!! This makes me have no confidence in Dr. Walensky.

Actually, now that the CDC’s list on breakthroughs keeps rising to over 9000, the CDC says on its webpage it will NO longer count breakthroughs only breakthroughs that end in death or hospitalization. Why???! Are breakthroughs rising with the latest Indian variants?

And was not officially released guidance that goes through many layers of review before being put out to the public. I am not saying your example was not disturbing and needed to be clarified, which it was.
As for the vaccine not 100% keeping someone from catching COVID-19, that is well known and documented. It does seem to greatly reduce the chances of catching it AND lessen the severity of the disease. Thus the CDC made the guidance it did in keeping wit the science.
If you want to wear a mask no one is stoping you.

There is good reason to be a little skeptical of their advice. They stuck with the wrong idea that COVID spreads through large droplets for way too long.

Distance for as long as they want, for the rest of their lives if that is how they feel. Others will chose not to mask and feel safe following the CDC guidance. Best of both worlds as I see it!

Difference to me as I am fully vaccinated. If someone has made the choice to not wear a mask and is not vaccinated that does not effect me.

And those who are fully vaccinated and don’t want to mask any longer don’t have to mask in accordance with CDC guidelines. Best of both worlds.....

How many magats are left at CDC?

Best get them out of "public service," imo!

Last edited Sat May 15, 2021, 03:49 AM - Edit history (1)

Inside places, on transportation, on the street even if not crowd, especialy definitely in crowds. Will not dine indoors yet. Still social distance in general.
I'd rather see them gather more data. And now since all these epidemiologists are still reccomding it.

I will remove it at a big, or medium to big park on a partly sunny to sunny day.
My sis and I have eaten out outside several times last year in Sept through early Nov. We were lucky to be able to eat out near the end of thiis past March because it was a lovely 60° day in NYC. Haven't seen her since.
She's all vaxxed and past her 2 wk vax maximum. I just got to vax max today!

So we'll get together in next 2-3 weeks. First hugs in about 14 months (!) and we come from a big huggy family. In fact we get to go to our cousins next month first time in close to 16 months.
Keeping track of my friends who are younger than me to see when they're all vaxed & maxed up so we can start getting together again over this late Spring into sumnertime.

I threw it out a few months ago when community transmission had been zero for a long while and restrictions lifted. I've had my first covid jab and have no intention of wearing a mask unless our federal and state health experts said I need to...

its guidelines?

changed its guide lines. Many more questions need to be answered again.

Not that there wasn't before with different requirements in different states. Hoping they have another one soon - or that Dr. Fauci starts making more public appearances again.

But the level of risk does not keep me from driving places.

The real question is whether (or to what extent) that remaining risk should influence our behavior.

That line is different for each of us... but we appear to be falling below the level of risk for which substantial government requirements are appropriate... and (hopefully) crossing that risk line for most of us going forward.

We are taking risks pretty much all time. At this point, It appears to me that, being fully vaccinated, the residual risk is low enough that I don’t feel the need to wear a mask in most cases (but not all). Others are free to come to another conclusion.

offices and other crowded areas. Generally, I will keep it down when I am walking around outside unless I am in a crowded area.

I pretty much stay in my neighborhood which has a very high vaccination rate and a large percentage of people still wear masks in my building and walking around the streets. Massachusetts still has a mask mandate, so I think most people here are going to continue to be cautious.

The only travel I have planned in the near future is that I will be going up to Maine for my niece's graduation the first weekend of June, but everyone will be vaccinated and I will take Amtrak business class there and back w/ a mask (no traffic through the b-class car. It's at the very end of the train past the cafe car.)

I plan to be very cautious through the next flu season. I didn't come down with the flu or any other colds or viruses this year, so it's probably a good idea to still wear one in crowded public spaces.

But not because I trust the CDC.

I trust the vaccine.

And many scientists feel the Indian variant B.1.617.2 now just beginning to spread in the US ((Colorado) has the ability to evade natural infections and vaccine antibodies.

The vaccine was made to combat an old coronavirus- that’s why boosters are needed fast

I trust the science and I'm a 32 year old in good health who got the J&J vaccine a month ago. I trust that I should be fine.

I’m not anti government-anti CDC like so many pseudo DU experts though. It’s been very en Vogue to go the anti government route around here the last few days.

We close our borders to India because of a very infectious variant B.1.617.2 - now beginning to multiply in a few states mainly Colorado - this variant might be able to evade our vaccines. And .... this is the time the CDC tells us to stop wearing masks.

I’m confident in the people the Biden admin has put in place. If it was the former guy it would be a different story.

Any and local rules or requests regarding masks.

No way in hell will I shop without a mask when the CDC reported thousands of vaccine breakthroughs cases.

of vaccinated people dying of a breakthrough case is even smaller. Like chances of getting struck by lightning small. Stop with the fear mongering.

I don't have the ability to do my own research so I am relying on data collected by others.

Nationally there have been over 9000 reported breakthrough cases. Compared to the vaccinated population the rate is about .011% however not all states are reporting cases.

California did its own study. They had 3260 cases out of about 13.5 million vaccinated people. Their rate is about .025% or 1 out of 4000.

For comparison the chance of a pedestrian being hit by a car in a year is about 1 in 4292.

But it is perfectly safe and rational to not wear a mask if you have been fully vaccinated.

There is no reason for any division over what is basically a fashion and personal dressing choice at this point.

Breakthrough cases are miniscule. Breakthrough cases resulting in anything besides a mild cold or less are incredibly rare. DU needs to stop treating COVID as if it is Ebola.

Like to fly on an airline or go in a hospital, nursing home, etc.

Not required to wear them at work and there are no legally mandated orders in stores or public places in my area of FL, the stores mostly either don’t have signs at all anymore or they just suggest social distancing. A few big places like Publix and Walmart still have signs asking people to wear masks but it’s about 50/50 compliance now.

Last weekend we had a birthday cookout for me. We invited 4 friends we've known for years over and as it was raining we spent most of the evening indoors but with the windows and backdoor open. No masks but everyone was vaccinated. Otherwise I'm still practicing the same precautions. I look at the CDC guidelines as just that and not a mandate. Even though I know that the chances of me getting or passing along Covid are very remote I still don't trust people I don't know.

To continue to mask except for socially distanced outdoors is based on science/ the data unlike the cdc decision to start dropping mask requirements. Numbers of covid infections are still too high, rates of vaccination are still too low, variants are present here which can overcome some vaccines. No vaccine is 100 percent. Even pfizer and moderna have 5% or so chance of failure which varies according to your immune response. We don’t yet know how long the vaccines will work to protect you yet either.

I have bad longterm effects from covid pneumonia last April and my father’s health has been destroyed by it in January. I am not risking any chance of reinfection. I will watch what happens regarding levels of infection and breakthrough infections, variants and so on. My county has been reported on one site as having 50% vaccination rate for adults ( It was not made clear if that was full vaccination but I assume so) and 1.4 % infection rate. It’s not good enough yet imo. There are at least half trumpers here and tons of fascist idiots overall.

I am weary of the stupidity here and overall in the US which has apparently decided not to follow what is needed to protect everyone and to finally hopefully put an end to this. I regret that my family ever came here now.

The person in the window was wearing a mask and said she had not been vaccinated yet when I asked her. She works multiple jobs and has not been able to get a shot yet. For the comfort of the workers, I will continue to mask out in public. JUST because I'm vaccinated and comfortable it doesn't mean everyone else is at that point.

This is not about our own comfort or convenience, IMO. It is about everyone else.

YMMV.


Laura

confined. Probably still wear them in some stores , too , if they're packed with people. It's not that I don't trust the CDC , it has more to do with the fact that I had COVID in January which led to double pneumonia. My oxygen didn't fall below 95 so I wasn't hospitalized , thank god, but I get anxious if I'm indoors in confined space with a lot of people around and no mask. People who haven't had COVID don't seem to get the trauma and anxiety it causes. Oh yeah, most women I've talked to have had their hair start falling out 2-3 months after having COVID. It's called telogen effluvium. It grows back but is a pain in the butt. I don't want even one scintilla of this virus back in my system, I don't care if it's a mild or asymptomatic case.

I’m fully vaccinated. I don’t trust that people have been vaccinated. The only time I don’t wear one is when I’m out running by myself, and I make sure to keep a wide berth if I come upon anybody.

Does not have anything to do with wearing a mask. As long as you have been vaccinated their status is irrelevant.

The CDC is, as they should be, concerned about medical risk and medical safety. But direct threat to oneself and others may not be the only reason to continue wearing a mask, and none the others don't really fall under the CDC purview. There are still state and community requirements in some places (including where I live) for wearing masks indoors. I still think it's worthwhile to be considerate of, for instance, retail and restaurant workers, who feel may vulnerable and uncertain about who is not wearing a mask because they're vaccinated and who is not wearing a mask because they're an asshole who thinks it's all a hoax or wants to assert their god-and-trump-given free will. I know some parents with kids too young to vaccinate will continue to wear masks in public indoor areas too ease compliance for their kid, or to show solidarity, or just to model a desired behavior.

I had a mild case of Covid right before Thanksgiving and I am more than 2 weeks past the date I got the 2nd shot. I am not worried about getting re-infected and becoming seriously ill. My fear is that I get re-infected and am asymptomatic. I wouldn't want to infect a child who's too young to be vaccinated yet or someone who cannot get vaccinated. I choose to wear a mask to protect others.

I will continue to wear a mask properly when inside or outside in close proximity to another person.

So I still keep one handy.

but, if a business/organization asks me to wear one, I will.

During cold and flu season, I'll likely wear masks.

If I'm not feeling well and have to go out, I'll wear one.

I haven't been sick in 18 months and I like that.

when I go inside stores. There are going to be a lot of unvaccinated people not wearing masks so I still feel the need for protection.

I want moms with kids under 12 to be able to take their kids out without being afraid of who is safe and who isn't.

I want people who are vax hesitant for legitimate reasons to feel safe in public.

I even want the anti vax horses hind end types to be safe in public because a lot of them are parents. Granted I probably care more about their kids not being orphans than they do but ... so be it.