Coronavirus prep
Replies
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Theoldguy1 wrote: »Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »It had been really confusing for me in stores. I have just been wearing my mask in all stores because I keep seeing signs that say "please wear mask" or "mask required" (today in bed bath beyond) and then some others saying "masks optional for vaccinatedd" etc. So many conflicting things in the same area!
Virtually every business I go to in my community is going with the general mask not required guidance.
And I don't live in a Red stare.
What is a red state? I'm not American.2 -
A Republican state.
Like saying in Australia we live in a Liberal or Labour area.2 -
Hmm.. odd. I don't think we have areas like that here. You just vote for who you prefer. Oh and my no pain vaccine shot was not so perfect. About 5 hours later is got more sore and even worse later but I don't take pain killers and all gone today. Good since we are flying south soon so happy we have one jab at least.4
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Well, yes we do we have areas that are Liberal or Labour strongholds.
What we don't have is politicised Covid - both government and opposition have been basically on same page with covid info.14 -
paperpudding wrote: »Well, yes we do we have areas that are Liberal or Labour strongholds.
What we don't have is politicised Covid - both government and opposition have been basically on same page with covid info.
I just didn't ever really noticed people in certain areas voting for one or another but guess you are right. I think people in more poorer areas vote labour here perhaps?2 -
On average, yes.
But you don't notice it because we don't wear our hearts on our sleeves, politically speaking.
No MAGA hats or equivalent.
And certainly no division in terms of Covid like it has been in US.6 -
Thanks everyone for your kind and considerate comments. I'm much better today. Just shook me up a bit yesterday for a while.
I believe, looking back on it, I'm a very inquisitive person. When I walked up on the building, I saw the one lady with the mask and them without one. I didn't think I looked judgemental at all, but I did look at them, and then, out of curiousity more than anything (because I had just been in the grocery store where around 60% of the people were unmasked), looked to see if they still required a mask or not at the chiropractor. To be honest, it really didn't matter to me either way.
Perhaps he thought I was judging him or something, IDK.
What I think I did right was asking the desk if I could go inside. I also still let that couple go ahead of me when they got inside (and the nice lady that also stood up to him with me).
What I regret is replying with anger and using profanity. That wasn't necessary. My wife (and daughter right now, who went through a lot with Covid) are very reliant on me currently. Doing anything that could have put me in any jeopardy of any kind was selfish.
I suppose if it were to ever happen again, I'd simply say, "it's within my rights to wear a mask" and shut up from there. Call the police if anything else happened. But I'd certainly protect myself if I had to. I could also leave as well, which would also be smart.
@missysippy930 -- I hope your husband is doing better. I'm so sorry to hear about that.9 -
From some one that has no Covid here I'm still wondering why it's a problem to wear masks, get your vaccination and stay away from others as much as you can till this is all better. Guess I don't get it but that is what I was doing when we had a close call. Do the right things and you'll be safe. I did it all too when needed and it wasn't so needed lol.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recently that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks or distance in most situations, unless local ordinances or private businesses mandate it. This is the official position of the federal government, so that is why people are starting to remove their masks, and many businesses are easing their requirements.
I personally believe this guidance was a bit premature and went a bit too far. I am fully vaccinated, but still mask and distance in any indoor public setting. I do not wear my mask outdoors or in indoor private gatherings with other people who I know to be vaccinated. It is very nice to see my vaccinated friends and family without having to sit outside, or worry about how far apart we are sitting, or try to have a conversation while yelling through masks.
And I don't see any point in the foreseeable future when this is "all better". We will be dealing with this for many years so we'll have to learn to live with it, balancing safety with life enjoyment.14 -
Earlier, I was going to post about how my husband's family had a relative die last night in Italy and how I have sympathies for families who are unable to properly morn the loss of their family member. This morning, the phone report was that the he was on a "table in the cemetery", which I have to assume is a morgue, and that no one was allowed to see him nor services allowed. Just now, heard more from my MIL. The husband had gotten his COVID vaccination yesterday, did not feel good, went to bed and never woke up. Of course the speculation has already begun. He was 56.
OMG I don't know what to think. This is so horrible. Big hugs to you all there.
@mockchoc thank you for your kind words. This morning, I am grateful to have seen a facebook notification indicating that the family will get a church service, but limited or no visitation (google translate is only so good). Having a funeral service is so much more than many families have gotten this past year.8 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »From some one that has no Covid here I'm still wondering why it's a problem to wear masks, get your vaccination and stay away from others as much as you can till this is all better. Guess I don't get it but that is what I was doing when we had a close call. Do the right things and you'll be safe. I did it all too when needed and it wasn't so needed lol.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recently that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks or distance in most situations, unless local ordinances or private businesses mandate it. This is the official position of the federal government, so that is why people are starting to remove their masks, and many businesses are easing their requirements.
I personally believe this guidance was a bit premature and went a bit too far. I am fully vaccinated, but still mask and distance in any indoor public setting. I do not wear my mask outdoors or in indoor private gatherings with other people who I know to be vaccinated. It is very nice to see my vaccinated friends and family without having to sit outside, or worry about how far apart we are sitting, or try to have a conversation while yelling through masks.
And I don't see any point in the foreseeable future when this is "all better". We will be dealing with this for many years so we'll have to learn to live with it, balancing safety with life enjoyment.
Not arguing with this but just a point for discussion, everyone who is vaxed can do what they want regarding masks IMO.
When the CDC said masks were needed to prevent spread, the CDC was "right", and people should follow science. Now that the same organization is relaxing standards, again based on science, why is the CDC being questioned?9 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »From some one that has no Covid here I'm still wondering why it's a problem to wear masks, get your vaccination and stay away from others as much as you can till this is all better. Guess I don't get it but that is what I was doing when we had a close call. Do the right things and you'll be safe. I did it all too when needed and it wasn't so needed lol.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recently that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks or distance in most situations, unless local ordinances or private businesses mandate it. This is the official position of the federal government, so that is why people are starting to remove their masks, and many businesses are easing their requirements.
I personally believe this guidance was a bit premature and went a bit too far. I am fully vaccinated, but still mask and distance in any indoor public setting. I do not wear my mask outdoors or in indoor private gatherings with other people who I know to be vaccinated. It is very nice to see my vaccinated friends and family without having to sit outside, or worry about how far apart we are sitting, or try to have a conversation while yelling through masks.
And I don't see any point in the foreseeable future when this is "all better". We will be dealing with this for many years so we'll have to learn to live with it, balancing safety with life enjoyment.
Not arguing with this but just a point for discussion, everyone who is vaxed can do what they want regarding masks IMO.
When the CDC said masks were needed to prevent spread, the CDC was "right", and people should follow science. Now that the same organization is relaxing standards, again based on science, why is the CDC being questioned?
I don't question the science behind their statement. But, that assumes that everyone is in 100% compliance, and that only fully vaccinated people are loosening their restrictions. That is not what is happening.
In the previous guidance, which said that EVERYONE should wear masks, there was no ambiguity, no loopholes, no excuses.
Now by saying that SOME people can shed their masks, it just opens the door to everyone doing it. With no way to verify someone's vaccination status, most businesses have no choice but to go with the "honor system" in regards to mask requirements.
With less than half the country fully vaccinated, I thought it was too early for the CDC to issue this guidance. Maybe a scaled-back version similar to what I have decided to do...If you are fully vaccinated, you can go maskless outdoors, or gathering indoors with other vaccinated people. But still mask in indoor public settings. This would have allowed businesses to keep their mask rules without a fight.14 -
Here in Massachusetts our state mask mandate was lifted yesterday for vaccinated people, but individual stores can still require them. My family was at the supermarkets Market Basket and Stop & Shop, and at the craft store Michael's, and none of these stores required masks. (Apparently Michael's allows dogs - my brother really enjoyed seeing a 200 pound English mastiff there.)
@SModa61: sorry about your family member
Have you noticed any stores still requiring masks?2 -
Here in PA, the Governor still says to wear a mask indoors until 70% of the adult population is vaccinated, or until the end of June, whichever comes first. They also say to follow CDC guidelines, which say that if you are vaccinated, you don't need to wear a mask. Confusing. Some businesses still have the signs up saying "Mask Required". Some say, "Masks not required for vaccinated people." Others have no indication. One I liked said, "Masks respected." In the stores, mask wearing varies a lot. Vaccination numbers are low in my county - about 35% - but I think many of those not wearing a mask are also people who didn't get vaccinated. In some cases it's because they got the virus itself so don't think it's necessary. I don't know what the experts say about that.7
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kshama2001 wrote: »Here in Massachusetts our state mask mandate was lifted yesterday for vaccinated people, but individual stores can still require them. My family was at the supermarkets Market Basket and Stop & Shop, and at the craft store Michael's, and none of these stores required masks. (Apparently Michael's allows dogs - my brother really enjoyed seeing a 200 pound English mastiff there.)
@SModa61: sorry about your family member
Have you noticed any stores still requiring masks?
@kshama2001 I'll be better able to report on Massachusetts mask wearing tomorrow when I am back in the state. Left friday for Maine just before the change in Mass policy. Here in Maine, the policy change was on the 24th so they already have a week under their belt. I have not gone in any businesses while here but our condo building policy reflects that of the state of Maine and the CDC, and I just got in from a 6 mile walk passing through a few retail areas. I saw very few masks, but everyone I am commenting on was entirely outside and on the sidewalk. It did strike me that of those wearing masks, it seemed to be limited to certain ethnicities but that observation is based on the last 10 minutes of my walk. I very limited time set.2 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »From some one that has no Covid here I'm still wondering why it's a problem to wear masks, get your vaccination and stay away from others as much as you can till this is all better. Guess I don't get it but that is what I was doing when we had a close call. Do the right things and you'll be safe. I did it all too when needed and it wasn't so needed lol.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recently that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks or distance in most situations, unless local ordinances or private businesses mandate it. This is the official position of the federal government, so that is why people are starting to remove their masks, and many businesses are easing their requirements.
I personally believe this guidance was a bit premature and went a bit too far. I am fully vaccinated, but still mask and distance in any indoor public setting. I do not wear my mask outdoors or in indoor private gatherings with other people who I know to be vaccinated. It is very nice to see my vaccinated friends and family without having to sit outside, or worry about how far apart we are sitting, or try to have a conversation while yelling through masks.
And I don't see any point in the foreseeable future when this is "all better". We will be dealing with this for many years so we'll have to learn to live with it, balancing safety with life enjoyment.
Not arguing with this but just a point for discussion, everyone who is vaxed can do what they want regarding masks IMO.
When the CDC said masks were needed to prevent spread, the CDC was "right", and people should follow science. Now that the same organization is relaxing standards, again based on science, why is the CDC being questioned?
I think CDC is right, as a matter of individual guidance, considered from the perspective of the individual. I believe them.
Scientific findings about individual, personal risk are part of rational public policy considerations, but public policy is about effects on masses of people, "the populace". Psychology of human behavior enters into that consideration, among other factors that are not pure individual epidemiological science.
Personally, I think it would've been better to link overall public policy on masks and distancing to something like overall vaccination numbers, and also consider how far we are into having a vaccine available for everyone (except perhaps some truly exceptional end cases, such as people allergic to vaccine components). (I think it's fine for CDC to clarify what the individual considerations would be, scientifically, even though that will confuse some people. Full-spectrum public policy is not their job.)
I think politicians have been under a lot of pressure to get rid of mask/distancing requirements, some of it rational (such as economic implications), some of it emotional or partisan-political. By taking a flag-waving "we will follow the science" course earlier, they also painted themselves into a corner a bit, needing to respond to CDC's guidance about the science, in a context where most people won't distinguish what's best from an individual standpoint, from greatest good for greatest number within the full spectrum of economic and other considerations, within a context of legal justifiability.
In current circumstances, pandemic deniers and mask rebels, even if not vaccinated, will stop wearing masks. Vaccines are not yet available to all. We're not really very near expected herd immunity levels of vaccination generally, though the contagion numbers are fortunately dropping pretty dramatically for now.
Wearing a mask troubles me exactly zero, as a practical thing: No breathing problems, no claustrophobia or other psychological stress. I plan to keep wearing a mask (that I think I don't personally need in order to be reasonably safe) in public, indoor settings, for a while, in the hope that it will help keep mask-wearing normalized. Abstractly, I should tie that decision to vaccination numbers in the population, and availability of vaccines for children. Admittedly, at some point, if people stop wearing masks pretty generally, I'll probably give it up, too - because the normalization value evaporates, in my perception. I would still plan to wear a mask if I personally have a respiratory bug in future, maybe in some other contexts in flu season.7 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »From some one that has no Covid here I'm still wondering why it's a problem to wear masks, get your vaccination and stay away from others as much as you can till this is all better. Guess I don't get it but that is what I was doing when we had a close call. Do the right things and you'll be safe. I did it all too when needed and it wasn't so needed lol.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recently that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks or distance in most situations, unless local ordinances or private businesses mandate it. This is the official position of the federal government, so that is why people are starting to remove their masks, and many businesses are easing their requirements.
I personally believe this guidance was a bit premature and went a bit too far. I am fully vaccinated, but still mask and distance in any indoor public setting. I do not wear my mask outdoors or in indoor private gatherings with other people who I know to be vaccinated. It is very nice to see my vaccinated friends and family without having to sit outside, or worry about how far apart we are sitting, or try to have a conversation while yelling through masks.
And I don't see any point in the foreseeable future when this is "all better". We will be dealing with this for many years so we'll have to learn to live with it, balancing safety with life enjoyment.
Not arguing with this but just a point for discussion, everyone who is vaxed can do what they want regarding masks IMO.
When the CDC said masks were needed to prevent spread, the CDC was "right", and people should follow science. Now that the same organization is relaxing standards, again based on science, why is the CDC being questioned?
I think the CDC is "right" when they say fully vaccinated people don't need masks. I'm not questioning the science or the CDC on that. I don't think many people have a problem with this concept.
The problem is the conflict it creates when you say some can stop masking, and some can't. The can't people will rebel, because now they can get away with it. It's not just vaxxed people shedding the masks. Most people are NOT fully vaccinated, but since you can't tell who is from who isn't, anybody/everybody can drop the masks now. When you see 80% without masks and your local vax rate is 30%, you know people ARE NOT "following the science."
Maybe the CDC could have said, yes, vaxxed people are safe without masks, but can we all - for the good of the community and to prevent confusion - keep masking for just one more month - only indoors in public - while the last groups finish their vax? Where I live, the last group (under 16's hasn't quite had a chance to build full immunity. I think many of them are just now coming up on their final shots.) It has literally been exactly two weeks since my final shot, and I got mine immediately when availability opened, so there are still people who didn't fool around who are not finished. If we had waited until June to unmask, pretty much everyone who wanted one would be covered by then. Everything is already open. What economic harm is there in wearing a mask for a few more weeks when we've already done it for over a year?
At some point, except for a small group of people who unfortunately can't be vaxxed for medical reasons, it's really gonna be your own fault if you get COVID because you chose not to protect yourself, so the rest of us shouldn't be punished and have to wear masks forever. I get that. And that day is coming soon.
By letting vaxxed people drop masks, they essentially let everyone drop the masks. There is even less motivation for the remaining people to get vaxxed. I don't think the CDC meant for the message to be: "Pandemic's over. Return to normal!" but I think that's how it's playing out. Timing is important.
Whatever, I guess. What's done is done. I'm fully vaxxed, I've done my part, and I just hope that if there's a resurgence or a vaccine-resistant mutation that everything turns out OK. Vast efforts have been made to get us to this point. In just a couple of weeks, where I live, the final groups (with the exception of under 12's and medically exempt people) will be fully protected. And at that point, I just have no more cares to give for the rest.11 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »It had been really confusing for me in stores. I have just been wearing my mask in all stores because I keep seeing signs that say "please wear mask" or "mask required" (today in bed bath beyond) and then some others saying "masks optional for vaccinatedd" etc. So many conflicting things in the same area!
Virtually every business I go to in my community is going with the general mask not required guidance.
And I don't live in a Red stare.
Don't you live in a reddish area of a blue state, though? Or at least purplish?
But IL is being more laid back than many -- even here in Chicago there are some places that have masks optional if vaccinated although many are still masks required (more common in non big chains and Loop office buildings) and where I live most in masks optional if vaccinated places will have masks on, even in areas where most are vaccinated. My parish church (Catholic) is still requiring them for all as well, which I think is good in that people are inside for an extended period of time (the distancing requirement has been loosened some).
I didn't go to the green market this weekend, but masks were required when I last went, and even in my mostly outdoors garden store they are.
And for the record I neither judge nor (of course) comment, and I wear masks indoors just bc I'm used to them being required and don't want to be judged. My office is now "no mask needed if vaccinated," however, so I wear one into and out of the building/elevator and not in the office itself (I never needed one in my personal office).2 -
In some cases it's because they got the virus itself so don't think it's necessary. I don't know what the experts say about that.
In Australia (and I assume the same everywhere) the experts say to get the vaccine even if you have had Covid disease already - we do not know how long natural disease acquired immunity lasts nor whether it protects you from all strains.5 -
Yeah, they say that here too.1
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On the CDC mask guidance, my hope is that the overall effect on mask wearing, vaccination take rates, vaccination effectiveness, and the effects on transmission have been factored into their decisions and communication. When they state that vaccinated people can remove masks and do not have the need to follow social distancing, I have to imagine they knew this would throw the door open to those that are not and will not get vaccinated to take advantage. Like some of the others here, I think tying it to the overall vaccination rate is more in line with the scientific evidence, but it's not like those communities where vaccination rates are very low were much for following the mask guidance in the first place.
If the airport traffic this Friday was any indication, the pandemic is over... holy kitten. Back to normal misery as far as airport traffic when I picked someone up there. It was a slog even at 10 PM.
This past weekend, I did some of the social things I've avoided during the pandemic as I hit being fully vaccinated just in time for it. It was odd at first, but also so relieving to be able to able to meet in small groups and relax and have normal interactions.7
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