CDC Updates Outdoor Mask Guidance for Vaccinated People

VOR - not true. Also, so what? So what if people still choose to wear them? How on earth does it affect you?

If you are vaccinated, they are never "needed" unless you have an irrational fear and "need" a security blankie.

LETMEGO - yes, sadly, yes they are. We all know they're not the cure to COVID, but if they help even a little, even .0001%, I'm happy to keep wearing one indoors or as needed. Some people are so selfish, they can't even be bothered to try and will kick and scream until they get their way. Screw everyone else, VOR has "science on his side."

Wait, are people still saying masks don't work and aren't ever needed? Still?

If I'm outside alone, or with my family, likely I am going on a long family walk. While I might not be near anyone else *right now*, I will most likely have to pass people on the sidewalk (close by) MULTIPLE times, and it's just easier to keep the mask on than take it on and off - especially as someone who wears glasses. They fog up like nobody's business, but once the mask is on, they stop fogging up. I am a week out from being fully vaccinated, so these days, if I am walking by myself then I leave the mask dangling around my neck because I can almost always move into the road to give people space, something I don't really want to do with my kids.

In the car- usually involves multiple stops, and same reason. Easier to keep it on if I'm going from the pharmacy to the grocery store, or whatever (I rarely make multiple stops, but it does happen occasionally). The kids even put their masks on in the car, because it's been good practice for them - since they have to keep them on all day at school, except when eating.

As soon as I'm fully vaccinated, I'm gonna make a nice long list of (other fully vaccinated) people I want to go up and HUG, and I'm not a hugger.

VOR - "Duke and I have science on our side." Ohhhh so cool. So what? You want a cookie? My God get over yourself. What are you even babbling about? I'm not saying we need masks. Do you not even read my comments? I'm only saying don't freak out so much about people deciding to continue wearing masks. Leave them alone, they're not hurting anyone.

Duke and I have science on our side, you have psychology on yours (a field of science I guess). If the vaccines work as well as the scientist's data says it does and everyone who wants a shot has had a chance to get one, we are done with masks, done with restrictions, and schools should be open as normal. But here in CA we haven't followed the science since "15 days to flatten the curve".

DUKE - I actually wore a mask alone in my car for a few blocks yesterday. Why? Because I was going to pick up some kids, not all of whom (who? not sure which one) were mine and I didn't want to forget to put it on when they got in the car. I felt like an idiot for those few blocks, but it is an example of when someone might be solo masking in their car. Not all of us are bonkers!

DUKE - you and VOR keep saying you don't care if others wear masks, yet you add in these jabs as if they're spreading paranoia. Everyone knows now that masks are not the cure and that our numbers are dwindling. I highly doubt if someone wears a mask in public for their own personal purpose, that others will freak out and start closing schools again. Sad thing is, the masks have become so political, that in many parts of the country (Idaho and Texas I'm looking at you), wearing a mask might be hazardous to your health not due to breathing but due to beatings and attacks my small minded idiots.

The single biggest failure of the COVID pandemic was the politicizing of a health crisis. We all know who started it, but both sides contributed....one a bit more than the other but that's old news.

You know I support people making their own decisions and if they want to cover their face for the rest of their lives power to them. But when I see someone walking or driving alone with a mask, it's glaring reminder how incredibly we failed to communicate accurate information to the public during the pandemic and how we're intentionally being scared and divided so the media / social media / big tech can profit off our fear and division and politicians can grab for more power like kids after a broken piñata. Orange man may have been an a-hole and failed in other areas, but when 41% of Democrats think 50% or more cases of COVID lead to hospitalizations, and 28% of Democrats polled said 20-49%; when the true answer is 1-5%, he was not wrong to down play the virus.

It’s your right to wear that mask pretty much anywhere and everywhere forever! Just be cognizant that as per the cdc and logic there are quite a few situations where it’s not actually accomplishing anything. And your adherence to paranoia has tangible effects (as we saw with the school board refusing to open and people being called Covidiots and domestic terrorists for being on the beach or on a run without a mask). In essence, paranoia is contagious and can have tangible effects...

If someone wants to stay masked, and they aren’t robbing a bank, I don’t understand why anyone else should care.

There are some situations where a single occupant in a car wearing a mask makes sense... but not to the degree you see it in practice. It’s performative... like the restaurants that were power washing outside tables every morning with chemicals... jogging on the beach with a mask... or the people spending 5 minutes “disinfecting” their mail and Amazon packages. Sure... there are some narrow situations where that was necessary... but generally speaking it’s more a tangible manifestation of irrational fear and panic. But at least the mask wearing driver is out and about... I know several young people who pretty much haven’t left their homes in 13 months... they are literally paralyzed with fear.

You can tell someone is pretty clueless when they can't figure out why an occupant of an automobile might want to stay masked.

It’s not hypochondria but fear and an inaccurate risk assessment (due to the blatant fear mongering of the FOR-PROFIT media and social media, they make more money when your scared and angry!!). If those still walking around in masks by themselves outdoors truly understood the risks, not just covid but all risks they face, they would never get in a car or go swimming again.

It's all part of the con narrative that this whole pandemic thing was totally blown out of proportion, and that 3 million or so deaths worldwide are nothing to be worried about.

SHASTA - taking extra precaution (even if mostly unnecessary) during a deadly pandemic is not "hypochondria." I feel like you don't understand what that word means.

Agree 100% with VOR

When the CDC and Fauci stopped being doctors and started being politicians and bureaucrats they lost the trust of many. Doctors provide their best available, 100% honest information and their professional recommendations on how to proceed, then they let their patients determine the course of action. They do not lie and put out a narrative separate from the most relevant and honest “science” in order to manipulate their patients into acting in a manner that they think is best. How would you feel if your personal doctor lied or mislead you in an aspect of your health to get you to act a certain way?

It was pretty clear that the CDC did not know exactly what to tell people. They didn’t have clear data, infection numbers kept flaring up—sometimes without a clear reason, and they had political interference. Plus, keep in mind that a lot of people seem to want guarantees and absolutes. They didn’t have that. Many people don’t understand nuance and subtleties, so they simplified their message, and not always well. It’s easy to say they did it wrong, but could you really have done much better? Tell 300 million people a coherent message when you didn’t have all the info up front? With political constraints?

Well, good thing no one anywhere was ever injured, hurt or in any way harmed by wearing a cloth mask indoors (or outdoors) when social distancing was not possible.

The CDC has convinced people to be paranoid about things that don’t make any difference, like obsessively applying “sanitizing” chemicals to everything within reach, and wearing masks outside (as a side note, I hereby predict that within a year it will be proven that masks did little or no good indoors as well. The new MIT study debunked outdoor mask use and made some major inroads on the efficacy of masks indoors, but there is more research to be done). The CDC has consistently flip-flopped, given guidance that later proved to be misguided like the arbitrary 6 foot rule (see the MIT study), and generally spread fear and uncertainty among the public. Some of the steps taken based on the CDC’s guidance actually made things worse. Now the CDC’s credibility is in tatters and a significant portion of the population has become paranoid and OCD. The CDC should have been straight with the public about what was known and what was not known from day one.

SHASTA - how so?

Problem is, Dennis, I have not a single idea what you could be referring to!

You may in fact be a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Do you feel better now?

Yes, but you can extrapolate.

Can you elaborate? I don't understand.

AlexBlue: Thank you for pointing that out. However, if you want to create a dramatic "drop-the-mic" moment, one must include all of the details. BC (me) wrote: "However, those who think so highly of themselves are often nothing but mud-slinging name-callers who end up on the wrong side of history." Peace to you. I wish only the best for you and your family.

Babycakes, "nothing but mud-slinging nam callers" I literally name calling.

So you approve of that then?

What I’ve noticed is that so many people choose a side and dig in, not bothering to think about the issues, and ignoring the fact that the available information changes over time.

The most hilarious part of your comment is that this is the attitude you have had toward Fauci etc the whole time. So by your own logic, you are wrong. Whoops

Pit - anecdotally, one could post any Number of your contributions from 2020 and 2021 and see a (presumably) far left wildly overblown and exaggerated fear of COVID. You consistently touted numbers that were 3 to 5 times the accepted rate of fatality and hospitalization. Again, that’s not to say COVID wasn’t/isn’t to be feared... but the left took it too far. And sure some of that cas n attributed to the far right not taking it far enough... but irrational and debilitating fear ruled the day... and many times the edhat!

VOR never posts a link to his (ahem) assertions. Have never seen this info on any mainstream media site. Probably been watching the my pillow guy.

VOR - You're GD right. DUKE - bravo! This is exactly what we need. I get sick of the far left garbage almost as much as the far right stuff. The sad thing is that a virus, a public health situation, became politicized in the first place. BOTH sides contributed to this and now we're stuck with a highly "political" health situation.

Best post all week Duke.

That’s true! But neither (far) side is committed to the truth... they are committed to a narrative. And unfortunately in our country the far fringe on the right and on the left are the vocal ones who set the narrative. It plays out everyday! There are some on here that are upset schools are open and that running along without a mask makes you a domestic terrorist. And on the flip side you have people who want to call the police on people wearing masks. Crazy crazy!!

I can't really tell who is patting themselves on the back and who is making fun anymore. It's not clear that everyone here understands science, data collection, analysis, risk, and how things change. For example, changes when situations and data changes...like vaccination rates, risks from being indoors vs outdoors, and mask wearing.

Wildly biased media on both sides has led to Hyper partisan politics... with both sides distorting and avoiding the truth. One side denies global warming because of a late season historic snow storm while the other obsesses over a young teacher that died of COVID and use it to justify closing schools for much longer than logic or science would dictate (and to deny climate change). The anecdotal stories provide confirmation of the wildly biased BS they were fed the night before on their “objective/balanced” news source. It’s all identity politics. We need a return to the middle...

"When all of our sources for medical information have an agenda to spin us, yeah, you wind up with a badly misinformed population, including on the left. Liberals often mock the Republican misinformation bubble, which is a real thing, but what about liberals? You know, the high-information, by-the-science people?

So almost 70% of Democrats are wildly off on the fundamental question of how many cases of COVID lead to hospitalization; 1-5% is the correct answer; 28% of Democrats polled said 20-49%; 41% of Democrats think 50% or more cases of COVID lead to hospitalizations - a margin of error of 1,000%.

(Democrats) also have a greatly exaggerated view of the danger of COVID to and the mortality rate among children, all of which explains why today the states with the highest share of schools that are still closed are all blue states. So if the right-wing media bubble has to own things like climate change denial, shouldn't liberal media have to answer for, 'How did your audience wind up believing such bunch of crap about COVID?"

I’m pretty sure what Fauci would have liked to say when the pandemic was just starting in the U.S. is “Everyone should wear a properly fitted N95 mask until we get more data.” But there were no masks available, and the president wanted to downplay the virus.

That you, Fauci?

Comment directed at @2:45PM.

What kind of racist comment is this?

Thank you babycakes! I appreciate your sentiment. I would also encourage everyone to take a deep, unmasked breath and enjoy our fresh ocean air the way nature intended.