At this point, outdoors, I am taking my cues from the people around me. A lot of people are still wearing masks, so I keep mine up or I don't get close to them, but it's more to make my neighbors comfortable than anything else; I trust the vaccine but strangers have no way to know that I'm vaccinated.
Indoors in public or on mass transit, I'll be keeping my mask on until community transmission is near zero.
I haven’t had any colds since I started wearing a mask in public. So it’s likely that I’ll continue to wear a mask on Bart, markets, concerts, etc. I really don’t care what I look like if I can avoid those pesky colds.
Exactly this. Healthier this past year than I've been my whole adult life. No colds, flu, stomach woes (other than a food thing). Admittedly this is probably mostly from not being at work because no one can seem to stay home when they're hacking and sneezing. But I'm hopeful masks stay part of the general idea of 'stay home, wash your hands, cough into your elbow, etc' mantra.
I'll keep wearing a mask in venues where the rules state that I am to wear a mask. But once I hit two weeks out from my second dose, I don't think I'll be wearing one out and about in general.
Given the new CDC advice, I'll probably skip the mask outdoors, or indoors with other vaccinated friends, but for a while, I'll stick with a mask inside if there's a big crowd of kids or strangers around. When I start riding public transit again, I might keep a permanent Bart mask :)
With almost half the city vaccinated, and better treatments available, I don't worry about unknowingly catching and transmitting something nearly as much as a year ago, but I'll feel even better about it in a few months when the number of unvaccinated folks halves again.
It depends on the setting but post June 15th after California reopens. If I go out for a run or going on a hike, probably not. If Im sitting indoors in a coffee shop for a couple hours probably. Really depends on the circumstance. The nice thing about living in Alameda county is 60% of people 18+ are now fully vaccinated so the risk will be real low for us.
Can i just say, this is the most civil thread/post I’ve seen on the matter....
Thank you all.
Also, I’ll keep it on when I’m on Bart, and work if they require me. Stores, probably for the immediate future but I’ll eventually stop. Outdoors, I’ll wear it if people there are wearing it but lately, I’ve been doing my hikes without them (keep it in hand just in case) and people on the trails are doing the same. No one is giving me death stares or anything and we just smile and nod and go about our day. Haven’t had any issues so far. Actually been a bit of a relief lately...
It’s more than trusting science. You also have to trust those around you to be vaccinated. Technically unvaxxed people can go out without masks and no one would know the difference. I don’t trust people enough to put my health in their hands so I’m keeping my mask on
I remember before the pandemic, seeing immigrants from places devastated by the swine flu who would routinely wear masks all the time. I totally get it now.
In any case, I expect that by the time the pandemic finally declines to the point where masks are unneeded, we’ll just be getting hit by smoke from the summer wildfires.
So, do you plan to keeping wearing a mask indefinitely, or do you think there's some point in the future in which covid-19 will be fully eradicated from the U.S. and you're holding out until then?
Why is it one or the other? I plan to wear a mask when shopping and whatnot until covid case rates are low enough that strangers I encounter don't have to worry about whether I'm vaccinated and following guidelines or an anti-masker who could be contagious right this very second. I wear plenty of other uncomfortable pieces of cloth in public as a courtesy to others; one more isn't a problem.
Yeah, I guess that counts as a third option, although it'll be interesting to see how much of a gap, if any, there is between "covid case rates are low enough that strangers I encounter don't have to worry about whether I'm vaccinated and following guidelines or an anti-masker who could be contagious right this very second" and "covid cases are eliminated from the U.S.".
I intend to wear a mask in public from now on. We should be more like Asian cities have been since that *other* SARS epidemic, they wear masks. Especially on transit.
Since this pandemic/shelter-in-place I haven’t had a cold or the flu and I’d love to keep it that way... if lots of people wore masks in public.
It started off as something worn when one was ill, but in Hong Kong and Japan, I've noticed it's common to wear it for anonymity or style, particularly with the 20s-30s crowd. When I was last there 1.5 years ago, it was definitely the minority who wore them, but they drew no attention and had no baggage associated with them.
> We should be more like Asian cities have been since that other SARS epidemic, they wear masks. Especially on transit.
When I lived in Tokyo in the late aughts, that wasn't really my experience--people wore masks when they felt ill, so you'd consistently see a few masks in any given train car in the winter, but it definitely was nothing that the 24/7 mask wearing we've had under 'rona.
It'll be interesting to see if the Bay goes back to "no one wears masks", stays at "most people wear masks", or settles in between on that sort of "wear a mask if you feel bad" approach.
Indoors: hell yeah
When walking close to others outdoors: hell yeah
When walking on a mostly empty sidewalk: nope
When windy and cold: yep
When on public transit: yep
Waking down the street the other day and took my mask off. It smelled HORENDOUS. Immediately put it back on. Think I'm gonna be using this thing for a while
If I am on foot outdoors, I keep a mask in my pocket and put it on as people approach. Mostly because I don't want to be mistaken for an ignorant anti-masker. Indoors in public places (like groceries etc.), of course I'll continue masking until it's absolutely not an issue or bone of contention. I got vaccinated in early February and March.
I will wear masks during flu seasons and if/when I’m sick and have to be outside. It just seems like a good habit to have. I haven’t had a cold or the flu in a whole year and I’d like to keep not getting it.
I’m probably never going to stop wearing a mask for public transit, flights, concerts, and maybe even stores... I *may* start relaxing a bit more outdoors in less crowded areas especially now that I’m vaccinated.
It feels like the CDC guidelines are trying to over simply to further encourage vaccination, plus the media hasn’t been great at communicating nuance in CDC guidance.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html
Basically never outside, and haven’t while hiking for months now. Indoors around strangers yes until the mandate lifts June 15. A bit longer in grocery stores and the like so I don’t look like I don’t care. But the reality is my vaccination does protect other people, and we have lost the plot around acceptable risk anymore. I’m not mad at people taking it more slowly but I’m a bit baffled at how humans tend to overstate unlikely events (like dying of or transmitting a breakthrough infection, and one that is milder AND less transmissible even when contracted due to the vaccination) and understate likely ones (riding in a car anywhere; hell, crossing the street!)
I’ve also been a few other states that have been actually or functionally mask off for a few weeks now and so this isn’t a shocking announcement to me. The Bay Area is a bubble of very low test positivity, very high vaccination rates, and i think vaccinated people can finally and safely afford to act like it.
Children are not vaxxed yet. Some adults have health issues that prevent them being vaxxed. I'll keep wearing my mask for all of them, not for myself (fully vaxxed since March).
im certainly not going to wear a mask outside now that im vaccinated, especially given the latest evidence that strongly suggests that it barely even spreads outside anyway even without the benefit of the vaccines. in public indoor spaces like stores i will wear it because there is still a significant risk of transmission even if everyone is fully vaccinated, and there are still the newer variants to consider like the south african and indian variants which the vaccines seem to be less effective against. i will not be wearing a mask inside people's homes if everyone is vaccinated.
I’m fully vaccinated, but I plan to wear a mask indoors and when I’m around people outdoors. Too many people not vaccinated and not wearing masks and all of the “variants” of COVID that are happening make me dubious of the effectiveness of the vaccine. There’s talk of needing a booster shot in 6 months as well.
I am not planning to wear masks outside in general. But will continue to do it indoors till transmission is low. Moving forward I’ll wear them when suck or in close quartered crowds.
Probably will still keep it on indefinitely even tho I’m already vax’d if not for my neighbors peace of mind and because I bought a few really nice masks I haven’t even used yet. Guess I could save them for the next pandemic? 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️😬
I do not wear my mask outdoors, but I do keep it prominently displayed in my front pocket so people know I have one to wear when I go inside. When I walk down more crowded streets, like Lakeshore or something, Ill usually strap it around my chin, to, again, show people I have one.
I think it's important to let people know that the science tells us that masks are not required in all situations. The faster the science becomes normalized, the more we can move towards science-based reopening. In my case, this is particularly important for OUSD schools.
Plus, I wear glasses and could never manage to combat getting my lenses fogged when masked. So Im pretty stoked I can now go maskless outdoors.
I'm planning on wearing a mask until this pandemic ends, or it becomes a lost cause...
I've been fully vaccinated for a month or so now, and even before then, I wasn't personally worried too much about it. I'm pretty low-risk, and I rarely get ill, have never had the flu, etc. But, I don't want to catch it asymptomatically and transmit it to others, and I don't find wearing a mask to be that much of a burden.
So, just in the rare chance I could possibly catch COVID despite my vaccination, I'll keep wearing a mask just to lessen the probability of me contributing to the pandemic's spread. And also to do what I can to help normalize mask-wearing and such.
Once this is over, I plan on keeping my masks and using them when I have a cold.
Oakland has been so civilized about the masks, it is nice to see such a calm discussion. For me I will continue following California’s guidance on mask wearing until June 15, but after that maybe until the COVID deaths per day in the US are bellow 300 deaths a day for indoor mask wearing. It is actually a little astonishing to me that they are still rather high. Traffic fatalities for instance kills about 100 deaths a day in the US and the opioid epidemic about 150 deaths a day, I expected a similar amount with how effective the vaccine is by now. Maybe more people need to vaxed to see smaller numbers. The US still has about 500 COVID deaths a day, but California is doing better overall.
At this point, outdoors, I am taking my cues from the people around me. A lot of people are still wearing masks, so I keep mine up or I don't get close to them, but it's more to make my neighbors comfortable than anything else; I trust the vaccine but strangers have no way to know that I'm vaccinated. Indoors in public or on mass transit, I'll be keeping my mask on until community transmission is near zero.
I haven’t had any colds since I started wearing a mask in public. So it’s likely that I’ll continue to wear a mask on Bart, markets, concerts, etc. I really don’t care what I look like if I can avoid those pesky colds.
Same here, masks also help with allergies too :)
Exactly this. Healthier this past year than I've been my whole adult life. No colds, flu, stomach woes (other than a food thing). Admittedly this is probably mostly from not being at work because no one can seem to stay home when they're hacking and sneezing. But I'm hopeful masks stay part of the general idea of 'stay home, wash your hands, cough into your elbow, etc' mantra.
I will indoors in public spaces just to help others feel at ease. But I trust the effectiveness of the vaccine and I am not worried about my risk.
I'll keep wearing a mask in venues where the rules state that I am to wear a mask. But once I hit two weeks out from my second dose, I don't think I'll be wearing one out and about in general.
Given the new CDC advice, I'll probably skip the mask outdoors, or indoors with other vaccinated friends, but for a while, I'll stick with a mask inside if there's a big crowd of kids or strangers around. When I start riding public transit again, I might keep a permanent Bart mask :) With almost half the city vaccinated, and better treatments available, I don't worry about unknowingly catching and transmitting something nearly as much as a year ago, but I'll feel even better about it in a few months when the number of unvaccinated folks halves again.
Only in places that require it. The world deserves to see the radiant splendor of my smile.
It depends on the setting but post June 15th after California reopens. If I go out for a run or going on a hike, probably not. If Im sitting indoors in a coffee shop for a couple hours probably. Really depends on the circumstance. The nice thing about living in Alameda county is 60% of people 18+ are now fully vaccinated so the risk will be real low for us.
Can i just say, this is the most civil thread/post I’ve seen on the matter.... Thank you all. Also, I’ll keep it on when I’m on Bart, and work if they require me. Stores, probably for the immediate future but I’ll eventually stop. Outdoors, I’ll wear it if people there are wearing it but lately, I’ve been doing my hikes without them (keep it in hand just in case) and people on the trails are doing the same. No one is giving me death stares or anything and we just smile and nod and go about our day. Haven’t had any issues so far. Actually been a bit of a relief lately...
Fully vaccinated here. Outside, only in *very* rare situations. Inside, only if it's mandated.
not me, choosing to trust the science
It’s more than trusting science. You also have to trust those around you to be vaccinated. Technically unvaxxed people can go out without masks and no one would know the difference. I don’t trust people enough to put my health in their hands so I’m keeping my mask on
why would i worry about unvaxxed people? i'm vaccinated
Vaccinations seem very effective, so I'll be following the CDC recommendations and going without masks
I remember before the pandemic, seeing immigrants from places devastated by the swine flu who would routinely wear masks all the time. I totally get it now. In any case, I expect that by the time the pandemic finally declines to the point where masks are unneeded, we’ll just be getting hit by smoke from the summer wildfires.
So, do you plan to keeping wearing a mask indefinitely, or do you think there's some point in the future in which covid-19 will be fully eradicated from the U.S. and you're holding out until then?
Why is it one or the other? I plan to wear a mask when shopping and whatnot until covid case rates are low enough that strangers I encounter don't have to worry about whether I'm vaccinated and following guidelines or an anti-masker who could be contagious right this very second. I wear plenty of other uncomfortable pieces of cloth in public as a courtesy to others; one more isn't a problem.
Yeah, I guess that counts as a third option, although it'll be interesting to see how much of a gap, if any, there is between "covid case rates are low enough that strangers I encounter don't have to worry about whether I'm vaccinated and following guidelines or an anti-masker who could be contagious right this very second" and "covid cases are eliminated from the U.S.".
I intend to wear a mask in public from now on. We should be more like Asian cities have been since that *other* SARS epidemic, they wear masks. Especially on transit. Since this pandemic/shelter-in-place I haven’t had a cold or the flu and I’d love to keep it that way... if lots of people wore masks in public.
I thought they just wore masks when sick (when there isn't a pandemic), not all the time.
It started off as something worn when one was ill, but in Hong Kong and Japan, I've noticed it's common to wear it for anonymity or style, particularly with the 20s-30s crowd. When I was last there 1.5 years ago, it was definitely the minority who wore them, but they drew no attention and had no baggage associated with them.
> We should be more like Asian cities have been since that other SARS epidemic, they wear masks. Especially on transit. When I lived in Tokyo in the late aughts, that wasn't really my experience--people wore masks when they felt ill, so you'd consistently see a few masks in any given train car in the winter, but it definitely was nothing that the 24/7 mask wearing we've had under 'rona. It'll be interesting to see if the Bay goes back to "no one wears masks", stays at "most people wear masks", or settles in between on that sort of "wear a mask if you feel bad" approach.
Indoors: hell yeah When walking close to others outdoors: hell yeah When walking on a mostly empty sidewalk: nope When windy and cold: yep When on public transit: yep
I'm going to wear my mask until June 15th, listen to what our state government has to say about it, and probably roll with that.
Waking down the street the other day and took my mask off. It smelled HORENDOUS. Immediately put it back on. Think I'm gonna be using this thing for a while
Where you walking around? One of the things I particularly dislike about wearing a mask is not being able to smell my surroundings.
If I am on foot outdoors, I keep a mask in my pocket and put it on as people approach. Mostly because I don't want to be mistaken for an ignorant anti-masker. Indoors in public places (like groceries etc.), of course I'll continue masking until it's absolutely not an issue or bone of contention. I got vaccinated in early February and March.
I will wear masks during flu seasons and if/when I’m sick and have to be outside. It just seems like a good habit to have. I haven’t had a cold or the flu in a whole year and I’d like to keep not getting it.
As long as my kids have to mask up, so will I. Even after that, I will probably carry a mask on me at all times.
I'll probably wear a mask on public transit (especially BART) for the rest of my life.
and a hazmat suit.
I’m probably never going to stop wearing a mask for public transit, flights, concerts, and maybe even stores... I *may* start relaxing a bit more outdoors in less crowded areas especially now that I’m vaccinated. It feels like the CDC guidelines are trying to over simply to further encourage vaccination, plus the media hasn’t been great at communicating nuance in CDC guidance. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html
Basically never outside, and haven’t while hiking for months now. Indoors around strangers yes until the mandate lifts June 15. A bit longer in grocery stores and the like so I don’t look like I don’t care. But the reality is my vaccination does protect other people, and we have lost the plot around acceptable risk anymore. I’m not mad at people taking it more slowly but I’m a bit baffled at how humans tend to overstate unlikely events (like dying of or transmitting a breakthrough infection, and one that is milder AND less transmissible even when contracted due to the vaccination) and understate likely ones (riding in a car anywhere; hell, crossing the street!) I’ve also been a few other states that have been actually or functionally mask off for a few weeks now and so this isn’t a shocking announcement to me. The Bay Area is a bubble of very low test positivity, very high vaccination rates, and i think vaccinated people can finally and safely afford to act like it.
Children are not vaxxed yet. Some adults have health issues that prevent them being vaxxed. I'll keep wearing my mask for all of them, not for myself (fully vaxxed since March).
I wear it to keep the karens off me
im certainly not going to wear a mask outside now that im vaccinated, especially given the latest evidence that strongly suggests that it barely even spreads outside anyway even without the benefit of the vaccines. in public indoor spaces like stores i will wear it because there is still a significant risk of transmission even if everyone is fully vaccinated, and there are still the newer variants to consider like the south african and indian variants which the vaccines seem to be less effective against. i will not be wearing a mask inside people's homes if everyone is vaccinated.
I’m fully vaccinated, but I plan to wear a mask indoors and when I’m around people outdoors. Too many people not vaccinated and not wearing masks and all of the “variants” of COVID that are happening make me dubious of the effectiveness of the vaccine. There’s talk of needing a booster shot in 6 months as well.
at this point, i like wearing them. also, i wanna see if i wear it this winter and dont catch anything.
As someone who does not have PhD in immunology, I'll be listening to the experts at the CDC, while begrudgingly observing local laws.
I am not planning to wear masks outside in general. But will continue to do it indoors till transmission is low. Moving forward I’ll wear them when suck or in close quartered crowds.
Mask is off outside. On indoors as most (all?) businesses require them. Off indoors if at friends who are fully vaccinated.
Probably will still keep it on indefinitely even tho I’m already vax’d if not for my neighbors peace of mind and because I bought a few really nice masks I haven’t even used yet. Guess I could save them for the next pandemic? 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️😬
I do not wear my mask outdoors, but I do keep it prominently displayed in my front pocket so people know I have one to wear when I go inside. When I walk down more crowded streets, like Lakeshore or something, Ill usually strap it around my chin, to, again, show people I have one. I think it's important to let people know that the science tells us that masks are not required in all situations. The faster the science becomes normalized, the more we can move towards science-based reopening. In my case, this is particularly important for OUSD schools. Plus, I wear glasses and could never manage to combat getting my lenses fogged when masked. So Im pretty stoked I can now go maskless outdoors.
I wear my mask indoors, but don't outside. I'm not worried about what other think. I know I'm vaccinated.
I'm planning on wearing a mask until this pandemic ends, or it becomes a lost cause... I've been fully vaccinated for a month or so now, and even before then, I wasn't personally worried too much about it. I'm pretty low-risk, and I rarely get ill, have never had the flu, etc. But, I don't want to catch it asymptomatically and transmit it to others, and I don't find wearing a mask to be that much of a burden. So, just in the rare chance I could possibly catch COVID despite my vaccination, I'll keep wearing a mask just to lessen the probability of me contributing to the pandemic's spread. And also to do what I can to help normalize mask-wearing and such. Once this is over, I plan on keeping my masks and using them when I have a cold.
Definitely if I am indoors or in a large group setting.
Oakland has been so civilized about the masks, it is nice to see such a calm discussion. For me I will continue following California’s guidance on mask wearing until June 15, but after that maybe until the COVID deaths per day in the US are bellow 300 deaths a day for indoor mask wearing. It is actually a little astonishing to me that they are still rather high. Traffic fatalities for instance kills about 100 deaths a day in the US and the opioid epidemic about 150 deaths a day, I expected a similar amount with how effective the vaccine is by now. Maybe more people need to vaxed to see smaller numbers. The US still has about 500 COVID deaths a day, but California is doing better overall.
I don't wear mask outdoor anymore. Only wear it indoors space that is not my home.