I don’t actually have a strong opinion on mask mandates, but one point that IMO is under discussed:
When this all got started there was a shortage of good (n95 or better) masks! Source control matters more when people can’t unilaterally block most aerosols, right?
Conversation
So when people say, “mask up indoors even if vaccinated to protect the immunocompromised since sterilizing immunity isn’t perfect”… I’ll do it, but I hope the vulnerable people are wearing at least n95s! And I have seen zero public health messaging so far on that point.
2
2
33
Replying to
A few months ago, I was advising someone who had some proximity to official-ish decision makers on the subject of recommending (K)N95 respirators. Apparently public health people were (are?) still worried that the general public will divert supply from healthcare workers.
2
3
14
I was, uh, pretty upset by this, especially since it was in the middle of a big wave and before most people could get vaccinated. I would *hope* that every healthcare site is aggressively procuring respirators (in case, uh, another boat gets stuck in the Suez Canal), but... 🤷♂️
1
9
Replying to
Yeah, if only we had public health officials who saw dishonestly manipulating the public as a costly thing they should approximately never do…
1
16
Replying to
I am not even sure that this concern has basis in fact any more? Obviously things will change with enough demand but I can (and do) buy significant numbers of respirators for basically nothing.
Replying to
Yeah, and it’s especially silly to say this when there isn’t an active acute shortage, since even though it isn’t instantaneous, suppliers can and will ramp up production!
5
And on the other side, I am slowly forgiving medical procurement managers for not stocking up on respirators in January 2020, but I really really hope they have a stockpile by now and could ride out a general-public-buying-frenzy.😬
1