behind the mask
Surprising news happened yesterday, which I didn't even realize until there were some mentions on social media: new CDC guidance saying if you're fully vaccinated, with a few key exceptions (public transit, hospitals, etc), you can take off the face mask pretty much anywhere you go, indoors or outdoors.
I immediately struggled with this. And I continue to. I mean, I'm all for following CDC recommendations, which I have done from the start. But, what if their guidance seems to be differing from actual epidemiologists?
I feel like I'm in a pickle here. I mean, I know I can just continue to wear a mask if I want. I also know that, so far as data suggests thus far anyway, being vaccinated means wearing a mask really makes no difference: I am far more protected than a mask ever could have protected me. The problem is with broader messaging, and what it means for people who remain unvaccinated. I emailed Danielle the other day to ask what the covid patient numbers are in her hospital, and she informed me yesterday it's up to 31—lower than the 45 she texted me on January 6, but it was down to 25 on January 26. Now it's actually up from that number, in the midst of widespread vaccination.
I follow at least two gay doctors on TikTok, both of whom spend a lot of time combatting medical misinformation on the app, much of it specific to COVID-19. One of them is this guy named Eric, who posts tons of videos directly responding to ignorant comments about this stuff, usually citing study and research sources. He posted a video yesterday about this announcement, saying it was "based on actual science and data from real world studies." I'd sure like to find a way to reconcile that with the evident point of view of epidemiologists, though? One flip side to this, as Eric wrote in response to several comments people posted on the video feeling nervous in the same way I am, is that these people not wearing masks were generally not wearing them anyway. But, you know, they still had to when entering lots of public spaces, and now they won't.
And the thing is, I can't imagine I'll be all that staunch about keeping a mask on where it's no longer CDC-recommended for long. I know plenty of people are saying they will keep wearing masks indefinitely no matter what, but most of us, I think, sooner than later will just stop wearing them if we don't really have to.
Honestly, what's most important right now is campaigning for vaccination. I just heard about this new conspiracy theory among some ant-vax people that they need to protect themselves from the vaccinated so they should finally, after all this time, start wearing masks themselves. Oh, for fuck's sake. Well, whatever works, I guess!
We did have a virtual all-office-staff meeting on Zoom this morning, and of course there was a fair amount of discussion about this news and how it might affect whether or not we continue working from home. I am now thinking my return to the office may be sooner than expected—Washington State is now set to ease virtually all restrictions by June 30, perhaps even sooner if we reach at last 70% vaccination. I suspect whether we actually hit those targets depends on where the transmission rate numbers are by then; we have some weeks between now and then to see where things are going.
And, even though just a week ago they were talking about Washington State being in the middle of a "fourth wave" of hospitalizations (hence those numbers at Danielle's hospital), even here we are starting to plateau and data suggests numbers are about to take a downturn. I sure hope those expectations hold, and this announcement yesterday doesn't fuck things up. It should be noted also that the CDC guidelines do not supersede any state or local mandates, and the state is also poised to roll back any of this stuff should the spread of the virus cause havoc on the health care system again.
When it comes to going back to the office on a permanent basis, I'm still of the mind that I don't want to until the mask mandate there has also been rescinded. Well, that and I personally feel both safe and comfortable going back without a mask. Whatever the case, I'm not particularly interested in working all day with a mask on.
Side note: Suzy, our CEO, joined the call from the airport. I guess she was taking an impromptu trip to visit a niece, and joined the call while waiting for her flight to depart. It was pretty clear to me she was speaking to us (masked, at least) from the VIP area of her airline. What an everywoman!
As for my evening last night, after work I took the car because I had contact lenses to pick up at LensCrafters at Northgate Mall (which is a sight to see these days), and then I drove to the office to swap out paperwork—and grab four more bags of frozen vegetables that Noah told me to feel free to take all of. Done! I had kind of hoped I could ride my bike there and back yesterday, as the weather was perfect for it, but there was just too much I needed the car for.
And then, Shobhit had his Project Management class, and I watched an episode of Star Trek Discovery in the bedroom on my computer. It was an episode apparently a lot of viewers hated, with the resurrection of a key character thought to have died in the first season. It actually wasn’t a great episode, but I'm still enjoying the show, so, whatever.
[posted 12:29 pm]