^^oops–typo 
I am not making up any rules-I am questioning possible hypocrisy from those that try to label others with it.
Most of us don’t post nearly as frequently as you do.
Would you please just accept people’s word for what they did so we can move on? Thank you.
Aaaannnnnnnd we’re back to “from each according to their ability and to each according to their need”. This oughta be fun to watch.
Exactly!
It would be nice if the world worked according to karma, where the most resistant were punished for their ignorance. But it doesn’t usually work like that, where “thinning the herd” would work on only the stupid ones. Typically a lot of innocent law-abiding people get sacrificed along the way too.
…that isn’t what “following the science means.” The science doesn’t say “wearing a mask outdoors is objectively wrong.” What the current science suggests is that transmission is unlikely outdoors in most conditions, even less likely if the person is wearing a mask, and even less likely if that person is vaccinated. But if a vaccinated person decides to wear a mask outside all the science is going to do is shrug its shoulders and say “meh.”
Consider this post “unliked”.
Most people, including those in this thread, haven’t been critical of the guidance. They have been critical of the messaging.
And ultimately I don’t think the CDC (in general) is most at fault here. Here is the CDC announcement on twitter.
I think this is good straightforward guidance that clearly defers to local authorities.
But this is what the Whitehouse released:
You can see in the thumbnail the problem here. The clear message that image is sending is that you “can stop wearing masks.” Nothing here about deferring to local guidance. “Fully vaccinated people” in much smaller font.
So the problem here isn’t the guidance at all. It’s how that guidance has been irresponsibly spun.
Because the pandemic isn’t over. 559 people died from covid yesterday in the US. 732 people the day before that, and 780 people the day before that, with a rolling daily average of 604. If we go back and look at what was happening in September 2020 on the 12th of September there were 701 deaths and on the 13th there were 399 with a rolling weekly average of 734.
Things aren’t that much different to where they were 8 months ago. And what I think is becoming abundantly clear (to me at least) is that most Americans are pretty much fine with that.
I think that with the current rate of vaccinations we aren’t going to see any more major surges (in the US) going forward. But I think that the daily deaths from Covid-19 will be anywhere between 200 and 1000 deaths, and it will continue like that for a long time. Americans are going to just live with this and most will be just fine with it. The rate is low enough that it won’t risk overwhelming the health system. This is really the endgame for the US.
So it will be interesting to see how this plays out going forward. I can tell you that most people in countries like New Zealand and Australia have zero desire to let covid in after everything we’ve done to keep it out. So what I see happening is that there won’t be much change to our border policies until the end of the year when most vaccinations have been completed. The rollout is relatively slow here but that is mainly an issue with supply.
At the moment 95% of our border workers are vaccinated. Those that won’t get vaccinated get redeployed. I’m expecting that most people here will get vaccinated and that by the end of the year the uptake will be well over 80%, but we will see.
So I would expect that towards the end of the year we will see more travel bubbles (like NZ has with Australia) open up between countries that have successfully mitigated the worst of Covid-19. I think countries like the US won’t be on that list. They will either have to provide proof of vaccination or quarantine for two weeks at the border. And I think it will be a very long time before America is taken off the “reccomended to not travel to” list. The decisions made now are going to have a lasting impact.
Who died and made you king? I have ZERO obligation to report to you on my daily habits.
Do you think there is a possibility that those who were redeployed will demand to get their old positions back based on the White House memo?
…do you mean here in NZ?
Sorry-sometimes it is hard to keep track of where everyone is.
…that’s okay 
I thought of something like this not too long after the CDC announcement. My thinking is that the CDC people are not stupid. They know that as a result of their announcement even more un-vaxxed folks are going to stop wearing masks.
Although it’s seemingly outlandish, the only reason I could come up with was the same as you: it’s a cynical attempt to let the anti-vax and anti-mask crowd get themselves inoculated (one way or another) or die.
Me too, I even tweeted that last week.
California says it will stick with the current mask rules until June 15.
Is this a serious question? We’re social creatures, well, most of us, anyway. We generally like seeing others faces, and we generally like interacting, going to concerts and ball games, bars and restaurants, and being with others. Yes, not individually everyone, but as a species as a whole we’re social. Can you really not understand the drive to return to as much of a “life as normal” as possible? I’m still wearing my mask out, but as soon as I’m anywhere where it’s clear it’s not required anymore, I’m taking it off. I’m vaccinated, and I’m following CDC guidelines, and the risk associated with it. I’m willing to take whatever risk there is. If the CDC rolls back guidelines, I’ll be back to wearing a mask. I’ve done it for over a year, I can go more, but if I’m given the green light not to, I’ll take it.
If you’re not comfortable, of course wear your mask. I think I said upthread I hope this normalizes mask-wearing for those who are uncomfortable with the risk and for others who are feeling sniffly and want to go out in public. By your metric, you’ll never go maskless again in public, which I’m sure you realize and you’re comfortable with. I am not provided it is reasonably safe to do so.
People don’t like change. I lived on this planet for 58 years without wearing a mask, and now I wear one when necessary, but I don’t like it. Something rubs me the wrong way about having to wear protective devices to simply live on Earth. I’m okay doing it temporarily, as conditions require. But I don’t want to accept the idea that it’s a long term (years) necessity.
To piggy back on this, if a new variant pops up that isn’t stopped by the vaccine, we will know, and quite quickly. Sure, it could start in my town, and that would be very unlucky, but that was true before COVID, too. If a new variant appears that current vaccines can’t prevent . . I will put the mask back on, cheerfully.
Right now, I am masking to make others comfortable. And I am okay with that. But I am pretty well convinced it’s not a medical need for my vaccinated ass.
I wear sunscreen when I will be in the sun. I wear shoes when I will be walking on sharp surfaces. I wear a coat when it’s cold out. Those are all protective devices. I see nothing untoward about wearing a mask when it makes sense to wear a mask.
(Heck, as a kid I wore a much more annoying mask when I went skiing, to protect me from the cold.)
This auestion is disingenuous. I’m sure you’re aware of all the reasons that people might prefer not to wear a mask.