Ditch the clothes! Ditch the masks!
The CDC did somewhat of an “about face mask” today when it suddenly made the announcement that mask requirements for vaccinated Americans were ditched.. no more outside. And no more inside–something that was the most surprising about the Thursday press release.
President Joe Biden had a formal Rose Garden event where he was maskless with the Vice President. As the Administration staff looked on with their full faces exposed, the First Lady made a quip that she felt naked.
Senate Republicans including Senator Susan Collins celebrated on the floor by ditching their face coverings and waving in the air like white flags.
After all this time…
After all this debate..
It ends like that?
Could it be the pandemic is over? Maybe the dark winter has turned finally into the rebirth of spring!
And to think, just one short year ago, people were actively protesting face coverings by performing “mask burning” rallies on the steps of various state capitols.
Now, as long as vaccinations are complete, the CDC itself self burn away, baby..
THE PRESS
This is how the announcement went:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or physically distance — whether indoors or outdoors in most circumstances. “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy,” the CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said during a media briefing Thursday afternoon.
“Based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases, the scientific data on the performance of our vaccines and our understanding of how the virus spreads,” Walensky said, “that moment has come for those who are fully vaccinated.”
A reward! Normalcy!
But normalcy?
IS COVID OVER?
No. Not a long shot. Even if the worst is behind us, most experts agree that the virus will be around for a number of years to come. This is how past pandemics worked, and there is little to show that this one would be much different. The hope and prayer is that a weaker viral strain eventually emerges, but not introduced into the world at large it is here to stay minus some other worldly miracle.
Variants will cause immediate concerns, as will the ‘breakthrough cases’ that seem to be growing in numbers. Many on the New York Yankees received their Johnson & Johnson jab but still developed COVID.
Sure, perhaps just incidental .. Things happen. Life isn’t perfect.
And even the best vaccines are not 100%.. Despite the grand press releases and braggadocios claims on Tiktok by vaccine snobs, efficacy is only in the 70s-80s even for the best vaccines. Much lower for others and for some variants…
HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD
Over the past year, each time some breaking news event would occur regarding this virus and the transmission around the planet, we would turn to our favorite Harvard alumni Epidemiologist & Health Economist Eric Feigl-Ding. He has been hardcore on the virus since he issued a “holy Mary Mother of God” tweet in early January 2020. He noticed something frightening spreading while the rest of the world was paying attention to impeachment and other events..
Today, we went to his Twitter page to gauge his reaction. We aren’t epidemiologists. Just onlookers like most others. But his resume is important enough to pay attention to what he says..
He has been stuck on India lately, along with Brazil, and this new threat of variants that may very well escape some of the best precautions and finest vaccines..
Feigl-Ding was not overly pleased today at what some viewed as great news. He writes,
Not pleased at all—In a sharp turnabout from previous advice, CDC on Thursday said fully vaccinated may stop wearing masks or maintaining social distance in most indoor and outdoor settings, regardless of size, regardless of others.
I want people to remember this Georgia nursing home outbreak— most people vaccinated… yet one carrier of the virus brought it to the heavily vaccinated nursing home… 1 death
THINK OF THE KIDS… tens of millions of kids aren’t vaccinated or even eligible yet
Even if you’re healthy… be the person who stops the transmission chain. Be a silent hero to others, not the silent transmitter.
And finished ominously: “Once the floodgates open… you can’t close them again… especially if variants surge again.”
WORLD AT LARGE
World Covid Infections as of May 13, 2021, as the masks come off:
161,797,810 Deaths: 3,357,532 New Infections / Deaths USA: 37,000 / 740 India: 338,000 / 3,888 Brazil: 75,000 / 2,300 Japan: 7,000 / 101 Nepal: 8,800 / 214 France: 19,000 / 131 Germany: 17,000 / 231 Still going..
x x x
It seems like everything has been political about this virus since 2020. As most pandemics do, it stresses the social fabric of a nation and world.
The fabric on our faces now will come off..
If a virus surge does happen, perhaps the experts are right. Once the floodgates open you can’t close them again..
