Let's start wearing these
Posted on 03/25/2021 2:38:21 PM PDT by lightman
March 25 (UPI) -- Wearing masks in public and practicing social distancing may be part of the "new normal" in the United States for a while, even as the percentage of those vaccinated against COVID-19 increases, experts from Johns Hopkins University said Thursday.
Although daily new case totals across the country have "plateaued" at about 50,000, the country will need to see a "continued decline in the number of [infections], hospitalizations and deaths" before restrictions can be relaxed, according to Keri Althoff, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
In addition, more of the country will need to be vaccinated against the virus, she said during a conference call with reporters hosted by the school.
The United States will need to see a significant drop in new cases and increase in the numbers of those vaccinated "before we can start thinking about what a new normal will look like," Althoff told reporters on the call.
"We're not out of the woods yet, so even those who have been vaccinated need to continue to wear a mask in public and practice social distancing," she said.
As of Wednesday, 85.4 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 46.3 million people, or 14% of the population, are fully inoculated against the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Being fully vaccinated means they have received either one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two doses of the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
Although the vaccines have been found to prevent severe illness following infection in up to 95% of recipients, that does not mean those inoculated are completely protected from the virus or are unable to pass it to others, said health policy expert Colleen L. Barry, who also was on the call.
Because it remains unclear whether the vaccines help reduce spread remains, those vaccinated should continue to wear masks to protect the people around them, said Barry, chair of the department of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"The concern is not the vaccinated people themselves but everyone else," she said.
In addition, even those vaccinated will need to hold off on international travel to avoid bringing new variants of the virus elsewhere, or home with them, Althoff said.
"Much has been made about the partisan divide" in support for strategies designed to limit the spread of COVID-19, such as mask-wearing, social distancing and travel restrictions, Barry said.
But she noted that more than 75% of people surveyed by she and her colleagues as part of a study they published in December indicated that they understood the need for these measures.
Such support will need to continue because "this is a process, not a light switch, where we can turn off COVID-19 and turn on what our life used to be like," she said.
What divide? I was willing to go along until you began turning it into a form of obedience training.
Cool.
I get to use my naked face Superpower some more.
😂
I refuse to wear a mask ANYWHERE!!!
Your exposed face will automatically mean everyone around you gets the virus, no matter how many shots you’ve had!
Fine, virus me, I wanna get this over with.
Let us stop refering to people as “expert” and start naming names.
Why are Covid infections going up as vaccinations go up?
Amen.
Do any of these damnfools ever think through the consequences of their policies?
Take the vaccine! But we don’t know if the vaccine works.
... and wear your mask! But we don’t know if the masks work.
... and stay home! Even though in NY most of the people who got COVID were the ones who stayed home.
Just do what we say and stop asking so many darn questions!
All part of the plannedemic plan.
The health Hitlers are drunk with their power and are not about to relinquish it peacefully.
Not a fan of masks myself.
I have limited my casual social contact some last year.
Mostly just by avoiding stores that have a regional clientele.
Oh yeah, also took my shoes off when going inside my house if I had been to a regional store.
Don’t know if any of that made a lick of difference.
It’s especially silly for me to wear a surgical mask with my full beard! But if asked I do.
Yup! It’s a big lie.. and they are even admitting it.
Nothing can stop a virus.
Speaking of “old and fat”, does the social distancing radius start at the center of the body or at the outside? Because 3 feet from the center of some fat people could mean they would be sweating on me...
“The fear and hysteria...”
Ha!
Was just rewatching early episodes of “The Last Ship” and wondering if it had had an effect on people’s perceptions of the virus.
Open everything.
Now!
No. They also don't experience any consequences no matter how poorly their policies work out.
Let's start wearing these
Agreed.
If this is a “new normal” my choice (as in my body, my choice) is to be ABNORMAL!
Good question! I hope we get clarification before my next trip to Walmart.
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