While the number of Americans receiving COVID vaccines continued to climb, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had originally maintained its policy requiring even vaccinated individuals to continue wearing masks in public. Yet now the agency has inexplicably flip-flopped, “allowing” vaccinated individuals to dispense with mask wearing in nearly all public and private settings. What gives?
According to the CDC, the COVID vaccines are effective at preventing the spread of COVID. So in that sense it made sense that those who are already fully vaccinated shouldn’t need to wear masks. But the CDC still wants those who are unvaccinated to continue wearing masks. For instance, an unvaccinated person among a group of fully vaccinated people would still need to wear a mask. But why? It just doesn’t make sense.
Even if the unvaccinated person were a carrier of COVID, the fully vaccinated people should be at no risk of contracting COVID, so the mask wearing by the unvaccinated person should be unnecessary. Making even less sense is the CDC’s insistence that fully vaccinated international travelers are required to submit proof of a negative COVID test within three days before arriving in the US. And the agency suggests getting tested again 3-5 days after arriving. But why get tested if you’re fully vaccinated? It doesn’t make sense.
By now most right-thinking people have realized that the CDC’s policies have nothing to do with logic or reason. They’re an exercise in control, pure and simple. And it was only due to public backlash that the agency is relenting and changing its policy to allow vaccinated people not to wear masks.
Some of us are cynical, too, wondering if there isn’t some sort of nefarious purpose for the CDC flip-flopping on its guidance like this. Since so many people didn’t leave their houses over the winter, and the flu virus supposedly largely disappeared, people’s immune systems haven’t had the same ability to remain vigilant against viruses that they’ve had in years past. And that could result in a severe flu season that would give the CDC everything it needs to bring lockdowns and mask mandates back with a vengeance.
If something like that happens, we’ll have to fight like hell against it. It’s bad enough that we’ve had to endure the tyranny of hypochondriacs, paranoiacs, and Karens for the past year, but at least that looks to be coming to an end soon. Having it start back up again would be absolutely unconscionable.