As we approach the year of the COVID-19 pandemic – and more and more Americans are getting vaccinated – many people are starting to wonder how much longer we will need to wear face masks in public.
Some states, including Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, Mississippi, and Texas, have recently announced the end of their mask mandates.
But not wearing a mask now is “a really bad idea, especially with the spreading variants,” said Richard Watkins, MD, an infectious disease physician and professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still recommends that people 2 and older wear masks in public on people outside of their households – which begs the question: When will we realistically stop wearing face masks? ? And will they become the new normal during the cold and flu season? Here’s what infectious disease experts know so far.
When can we safely stop wearing face masks?
It’s “hard to say,” given that the end of wearing a face mask regularly is tied to the end of the pandemic, says Dr. Watkins. But, he adds, “if and when we achieve immunity to the herd, the routine wearing of a mask can probably be discontinued.” (Herd immunity means that a majority of the population is immune to an infectious disease and provides indirect protection to those who are not immune to the disease, such as newborns or vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated due to health risks.)
Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently told CNN that it is “possible” that public health officials will continue to recommend masks in 2022. However, he said life should look more normal by then. see. , “We will have a significant degree of normalcy, apart from the awful burden we have all endured over the past year.”
Doctors agree masks will likely be recommended for a while. “Preventing infection remains the single best way to reduce illness and death, and the best prevention comes from wearing a mask and social distancing,” said Lewis Nelson, MD, president of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “Until we have better information about the development of viral variant strains and the effectiveness of current or future vaccines, we must wear masks in many of our interpersonal interactions.”
It is likely that there will be some sort of mask counseling until there is a “sufficient decrease in the spread of the virus through the community,” said infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “That could be the end of 2021, as more people get access to the vaccine.”
Even if you have been fully vaccinated, the CDC still recommends continuing to wear a mask in public, as it is unclear whether vaccinated people can still pass COVID-19 on to others who have not yet received the vaccine.
As for the actual mask mandates, “This will be done state by state,” says Dr. Adalja. But as the COVID-19 spread decreases in certain areas, mask mandates may eventually disappear, he notes.
Will face masks be recommended after the COVID-19 pandemic?
Luis Alvarez. Placeholder imageGetty Images
It’s possible, especially since masks have been proven to ward off infection. The flu season was practically non-existent this year – data from the CDC showed that there have been only 1,500 clinically diagnosed cases of the flu since September. That’s a huge drop from last year’s flu season, which saw an estimated 56 million cases.
That’s why experts say masks can have a lasting effect – at least during the cold and flu season. “Pre-COVID masks were common in Asia, so I expect more people in the US to wear them comfortably after the pandemic,” says Dr. Watkins.
Dr. Adalja points out that it is always recommended that people wear a mask when they have a respiratory virus, even before the pandemic. “That won’t change, but more people will probably stick to it,” he says.
And some people may continue to wear masks in public, such as in busy areas and on public transportation, simply because they have seen that masks can help prevent disease, Dr. Adalja on.
For now, doctors say, keep masking until public health officials give Americans the green light to go out without a public one.
This item is correct as of press time. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves rapidly and the scientific community’s understanding of the novel coronavirus develops, some of the information may have changed since it was last updated. While we strive to keep all of our stories up to date, you can access the online resources from the CDC WHO, and your local public health department to keep up to date with the latest news. Always talk to your doctor for professional medical advice.
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