The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its mask recommendations, saying masks are no longer required indoors or outdoors for people who are fully vaccinated.
Though the past 12 months have been extremely difficult, I am not ready to say goodbye to my mask. I am vaccinated, along with my family, close friends and colleagues. When I am around them, I will probably feel comfortable removing my mask and showing off my favorite red lipstick. However, I have no faith in strangers being honest about their vaccination status when I am shopping in the local grocery store.
I am sure many of you remember the vivid photos of truck trailers being utilized as morgues during the height of the pandemic. Thinking about someone’s family member being stacked up in a truck is hard to process. Yet, that visual pales in comparison to that of someone dying alone because family members could not be at the bedside. Is this really what we want to see again?
I realize we are all anxious to return to normal. We miss our synagogues, mosques, churches and concerts. I totally understand. I would love to enjoy dinner inside a restaurant with my husband without worrying about my mask. My 14-year-old daughter would love to spend time with her friends in the mall and go to places that teenagers enjoy, without worrying about mask mandates. I get it! We all want our lives back!
The reality is, however, that COVID-19 will be part of our daily vernacular for some time. This virus mutated already and is surging in other parts of the world, even though our numbers are coming down. Furthermore, our society is a global one. We are connected, whether we like it or not. Therefore, what happens in India and Brazil can easily affect.
I am not trying to be a “Debbie Downer”. I am providing some words of caution for our vulnerable communities of color. These past months have exposed the fragility of disadvantaged populations and the inherent systemic racism embedded in the very systems that are supposed to protect them. Do you recall the lack of testing sites in minority communities?
Per the CDC, race and ethnicity is known in only 56 percent of people who have received at least one vaccine shot against COVID-19. Only 9 percent of those persons are Black. Please let that low percentage sink into the crevices of your brain. We are asking a vulnerable, mostly unvaccinated community to ease its mask restrictions?
In addition, let us not forget that young children are still not vaccinated. As a primary care provider who had to help individuals navigate their COVID illnesses, removing masks at this time worries me.
Therefore, my advice to my family, friends, and patients will be to continue wearing their masks in public places. If you are around fully vaccinated individuals with whom you trust, consider removing your mask. Wearing a mask has proven successful in the ongoing battle against COVID-19.
In addition to helping to curb the spread of COVID, mask wearing also reduced upper respiratory illnesses this past flu and cold season.
Hand washing, wearing a mask and social distancing were also keys to that success. That being said, my advice: Be cautious my friends just a little while longer.
