I am tempted to say that I’ve loved not getting even a cold the last couple of years and I really think it’s the masking I have to thank for that.
5 Likes
No one in my family has had a cold in 2 years either! My mom (76) has really appreciated that because colds hit her especially hard–she says she is going to continue frequent mask wearing post Covid. My husband’s cousin who suffers from terrible asthma attacks has said she’s only had a handful of attacks in the past two years (before it was weekly) and feels annoyed that no doctor ever suggested a mask might help prevent the attacks. In her case, clearly it was particulates in the air triggering her attacks.
2 Likes
My husband said he is going to keep wearing a mask for this very reason.
3 Likes
My daughter with spring allergies says the same thing. She plans to wear a mask during pollen season.
1 Like
Do you feel naked when you don’t wear a mask in public? It’s something I automatically put on before I walk out the door.
1 Like
I do. I dont see me not masking in the foreseeable future. It doesn’t bother me at all, and now that I am the full time caregiver for my 8 week old grandson, it is just a cautionary thing that I am willing to do. Hopefully the vaccine will be approved for those under 5 soon.
1 Like
Not at all. I do don a mask before entering a store just out of courtesy, even tho masking is no longer required in my county.
I don’t feel naked without it, but I’ve found I forget about masks a lot. I can be holding one in my hand and forget to put it on, or have one on and forget to take it off - even in a car by myself. I have learned not to leave home without one - and usually with a reserve - just in case.
I’m surprised that masking still doesn’t feel totally automatic. I walk regularly in our neighborhood and local parks and while I’ll have a mask with me, I don’t feel I need it. I always wear a mask in a store and often in our more crowded downtown. I do occasionally have to go back to the car to get a mask. They live on the dashboard airing out.
Not so sure avoiding all colds, sore throats, bugs is such a good idea. There were rumblings that past cold infections might somehow be protective when it came to COVID. Cross reactivity of those antibodies.
Putting ourselves in a bubble (or mask plus distancing plus excessive hand washing and sterilizing our environment) might really not be all that wise in the long run.
I worry about my young granddaughters. The 18 month old has never had a cold. Very little priming or training of her immune system.
8 Likes
Avoiding all bugs is rarely a good idea - even without Covid. Play in the dirt. Fending off the “easier” things often helps the body handle tougher things. There are only a few bugs that need special precaution - like Covid or salmonella, etc.
2 Likes
I find this amusing. I mentioned to my wife that few of the people I knew who drank moderately were getting Covid, while the people I knew who didn’t drink were the ones getting sick. I chalked it up to coincidence but maybe…?
No, but most of my “in public” activity is outdoors and not crowded or with known vaccinated people. But I put on a mask when going to indoor public places (stores, restaurants to pick up take-out food).
1 Like
Oh my goodness, no. Most of the time I’m going out the door it’s to take a long walk outdoors, where there are few people. Always wear a mask inside except for restaurants.
So far, I have only rarely eaten in indoor restaurants, because that is the most obvious common higher-COVID-risk activity (enclosed space, extended time, you and others cannot wear masks while eating). I see some elderly relatives fairly often, and they are still mostly avoiding eating in indoor restaurants (compared to pre-COVID).
2 Likes
Sorry, my confidence and trust level is dropping daily…
’ When the C.D.C. published the first significant data on the effectiveness of boosters in adults younger than 65 two weeks ago, it left out the numbers for a huge portion of that population: 18- to 49-year-olds, the group least likely to benefit from extra shots, because the first two doses already left them well-protected.’
Really, so while glossing over the risk of heart related issues in this group - (remember…it’s really only a small number that get myocarditis and it is still SO much less problematic than what will happen with a native infection)…the PTB pushed boosters as universally good and helpful…
'“The C.D.C. is a political organization as much as it is a public health organization,” said Samuel Scarpino, managing director of pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute. “The steps that it takes to get something like this released are often well outside of the control of many of the scientists that work at the C.D.C.”
The performance of vaccines and boosters, particularly in younger adults, is among the most glaring omissions in data the C.D.C. has made public.’
And now I’m really peeved before I’ve even finished my first cup of coffee. grrrrrrrr
11 Likes
As you can read in the article, it’s not so simple. Unfortunately, the CDC is dealing with two issues. One, they really need a team whose job it is to curate the data that they release. At the moment it alternates between data dump and restriction. Second, they need to have the rules for what can be released and when reviewed by experts in science media (the author of this article would actually be a great choice for that sort of position).
The idea that there would be mass segments of the population which would point blank deny that there was a pandemic, despite hundreds of thousands of dead did not occur to the people who were setting up the CDC, and therefore, the CDC is not really set up to set up press releases and to release data in those conditions.
What we see now re the actions of people who are struggling to deal with a pandemic of stupidity on the part of people who are not stupid.
There have always been people who have taken CDC data and twisted it to make it seem that disease didn’t actually exist. However, this has never been part of the mainstream for 1/3 of the population. Those quacks, crackpots, and frauds were in the margins of society. The CDC does not know how to deal with the fact that they are now being hosted and lauded by members of congress and political leaders.
5 Likes
those are somewhat legit excuses, but they are excuses nonetheless.
CDC has boatloads of money and could hire epidemiologists and health educators from any of the top Public health schools in the country for outreach. (Emory’s School of PH is literally across the street, but I’m sure Hopkins & Harvard PH experts would love to to assist.) OTOH, if they don’t have budget, they could have asked Congress two years ago for more $$.
As a result, cynics can claim that the withholding of data is more political than scientific.
2 Likes
Definitely not the data point I see among those I know (or my kids/friends know), though I guess it depends upon the definition of moderately.
It’s not lack of money.
Historically, education and outreach has dealt with lack of knowledge, misconceptions, and misunderstanding. The only people who have ever been interested in the data itself were other scientists.
There is really no existing model in the CDC, or, for that matter, in Public health, that deals with how to release data, when there is an entire system set up to misrepresent and misuse that data in order to keep the CDC from fulfilling its mission.
As a result, they’re flailing a bit. One of the things that people do when they flail is revert to simple solutions to complex problems. Not sharing the data to keep people from misusing the data is this type of simple solution.
I think that it never occurred to them that this would be an issue.
To be fair, when a pandemic is raging, the last thing that the CDC wants to deal with is “how will we release the detailed data in a manner which won’t be fuel for the conspiracy theorists and those who benefit from pretending that there is no pandemic going on?”. Of course, all of the things that are put off eventually need to be done. Hiring the right outreach and PR people is one of them.
So they didn’t hire the right people because it didn’t occur to them that these people would be needed, and because they had kinda a lot of their plate.
In all honesty, though. Releasing the data is NOT IMPORTANT. The only reason to do so is for some people to feel better, and, I’m sorry, but people’s feelings should not be what determined the response to a pandemic.
5 Likes