If YOU are not fully vaccinated…WEAR A MASK!
Yes, we are all tired of wearing masks. Most of us diligently wore our masks for almost 15 months. We still need to be paying attention. CDC Guidelines (CDC.gov/coronavirus) state that “If you are not fully vaccinated and aged 2 or older, you should wear a mask in indoor public places”. The individual states are empowered with mask mandate implementation and most had a mandate at some point during the last 15 months. Unfortunately, when these mask mandates were lifted so was the compliance with the CDC recommendation that unvaccinated citizens not only continue to wear masks in public while indoors, but also to continue to socially distance, and to avoid large crowds. There is maskless-ness everywhere! Ohioans are not heeding the repeated recommendations of Governor DeWine despite his press releases such as June 1, 2021, when he specifically stated that it is “important to get vaccinated…. those not fully-vaccinated should wear masks indoors and continue to socially distance”. The peak consequence of this disregard is not being seen yet.
Since the beginning of the pandemic the hope has been that Americans wearing masks would help provide protection until we reached the approximately 75% vaccination level necessary for herd immunity. Only 46% of the population has been fully vaccinated. At this time, approximately 67% of adults have received at least one vaccination. This represents roughly 54% of the population of the USA. The pace of vaccinations is slowing as demonstrated by the 7-day running vaccination average peaking at nearly 3.4 million per day in early April and decreasing to about 700,000 per day as of June 17, 2021. Unfortunately, 1 of 10 people have not come back for their second dose. The vaccine effectiveness data shows that the three vaccines available in the US under Emergency Use Authorization are significantly effective against the original SARS-Cov2 virus. Slowing vaccinations, abandonment of masks, cooler weather, and the reopening of our society will be fertile environment for the rise in variants. The Delta variant has doubled in the US in the last week and now represents over 25% of the Covid-19 viruses isolated and is present in 49 states. Some good news from Israel and Great Britain is that the current vaccines have up to 90% effectiveness.
There remains a great deal of resistance to Covid-19 vaccinations despite incentive programs such as Ohio’s Vax-a-Million, product giveaways, time off work, etc. A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation discovered that one third of the unvaccinated indicate that they are likely to get vaccinated once there is formal FDA approval is granted. All three vaccines being used in the USA are under Emergency Use Authorization. Both Pfizer and Moderna have requested formal approval for their vaccines, but this process may take up to 6 more months. Another 12% of the unvaccinated are in the “wait-and-see group, most of these are young and Black. Approximately 7% of the unvaccinated say that they will get vaccinated if mandated by their employers. Employers and the US military are hesitant to mandate the vaccine as a condition of work, until the formal approval has been granted. Many colleges are mandating vaccination as a condition of on-campus instruction. Many of the unvaccinated are also concerned about the safety of the vaccines. There has been recent attention to the rare occurrence of myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination (400 cases out of hundreds of millions of vaccines administered). These conditions are one hundred times more likely to occur if you catch Covid-19!
Throughout this pandemic, the US has followed the British Covid-19 trends by 4-6 weeks. We should be cautious and concerned because Great Britain, where the Delta variant is the dominant strain, has extended its Covid-19 restrictions for another month. Additionally, Israel has reinstated its indoor mask mandate, Australia has announced a two-week lockdown, and the World Health Organization is recommending that even the vaccinated should continue to wear masks indoors. Los Angeles authorities are recommending that masks be worn indoors in public for unvaccinated as well as vaccinated individuals.
This pandemic is not over folks! The CURRENT recommendation, which clearly is subject to change, is that if you are unvaccinated, please WEAR your mask. For all of us, WASH your hands, WATCH your distance, and get vaccinated.
