GIVE ME A BREAK

The CDC recently released new guidelines regarding masks for Americans and mask mandates in schools across the country are ending. The CDC director was quoted saying “We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen,” she said.Scientists and doctors have confirmed that proper mask wearing protects you and others from infection but it’s been 2 years and so many people are ‘tired’ of wearing a mask and want everything to go back to ‘normal’.

So the question is ‘which people are getting a break’? I know she’s not talking about the people that have organ transplants, like my daughter, that are immunocompromised. I also know that doesn’t include the elderly or the CF patients or the cancer patients that are high risk.

When patients received a new organ and began taking anti rejection drugs that suppress the immune system, their new normal started then. For my daughter, it was 30 years ago. Mask wearing in crowds, on planes, and in class during flu season. Patients like her and the others mentioned don’t get to take a break.

It’s been two years since Covid, a highly contagious respiratory virus which put the country and the world in lockdown, turned our way of life upside down. A world wide pandemic became the new normal and we were told to use face masks for protection. When a shortage of masks in the early phase of the pandemic became apparent, the CDC changed their tune and said face masks should only be reserved for caregivers or those that were sick. That put doubt and hesitancy in people’s minds. As the virus continued spreading like wildfire and deaths skyrocketed, the CDC changed their tune and recommended masks once again as protection. These mixed messages created chaos and debates on whether they do or don’t work. The message should be that masks are not a burden.

For now, enjoy your break and carry on living your best lives as if the pandemic is over if that is your option, but don’t forget there is still a huge population that will NEVER have the option to get a break.

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