Face Masks and Vaccination: Matter of Personal Choice or Public Health?

I hear the argument on social media that wearing face mask and getting vaccinated are personal choices. At the first glance this argument may appear to be a reasonable one. But it ignores the fact that wearing a face mask and getting vaccinated does not just protect the individual from the COVID-19 virus. It protects the community. As long as people treat mask wearing and vaccination as a personal choice, the virus will go unchecked.

An Arizona Republic opinion piece asked this question, “If vaccines work against COVID-19, why ask the fully vaccinated to wear masks?” The author of the piece dodged the answer to the question.

When the CDC advised vaccinated people that they did not need to wear face masks, unvaccinated people stopped wearing them. It was not possible to distinguish vaccinated people from unvaccinated people. It quickly became apparent that the honor system did not work. Rather than encouraging unvaccinated people to get vaccinated, releasing vaccinated people from the recommendation to wear face masks was taken as permission by unvaccinated people to not wear them too.

Recommending and even requiring both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to wear face masks will expose those who refuse to wear masks for the public health menace that they are becoming. Yes, they are becoming a menace to the public health. While few unvaccinated people have a legitimate reason for not wearing a mask, most do not. The Delta variant is much more infectious than earlier variants and unvaccinated people who do not wear a face mask and observe other public health measures are spreading the disease.

The CDC has also released some new findings that relate to the viral load of vaccinated people who have experienced a break-through infection. Such infections, while uncommon, do occur. These findings support the need for vaccinated people to wear face masks indoors in areas with high or substantial transmission rates.

Further Reading:
New science leads to another CDC update on masks. Even for the vaccinated.
Covid-19: CDC brings back indoor mask guidance for virus hot spots
Yes, the CDC Just Reversed Its Policy on Wearing Masks Indoors
Three Reasons the New CDC Mask Guidance Makes Sense
The CDC is recommending masks for all again—here are the best ones we've tested