Physical distancing, mask-wearing could be in place for 2-3 years with vaccine | Hacker News Reader

Physical distancing, mask-wearing could be in place for 2-3 years with vaccine

cbc.ca

I wrote about exactly that 10 days ago here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24567159

The main part about that topic:

“If it turns out that even vaccinated people can spread the virus (as in: "they can still become infected and only get less sick"), and that is estimated as very probable by the experts at the moment, the existence of other vaccinated people will not protect the high risk groups -- the so-called "herd" will never protect them, only the vaccine, and only if it works for them. Which they won't know in advance: The experts also don't expect too high protection of the vaccine, as it is known that vulnerable are only some percentages protected by the similar vaccines (sometimes even less than 50%). So the masks can turn out to remain more important than we hope at the moment: then, the estimated protection if both the infected and the vulnerable wear a good mask could be higher in many circumstances than a vaccine. That was the sound basis for this claim:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/16/cdc-director-says-face-masks...

In Redfield's own words:

“If I don’t get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me,” he said. “This face mask will.””

In Canada maybe. More and more states in the US are going back to normal, and this trend doesn't show any sign of changing.

This article is from two months ago. Not long normally, but a lot has changed with COVID since.

onestly, no. Not much has changed since two months ago.

You’re right, It’s starting to get worse with the cold weather.

Personally, I'd be quite happy if service workers (e.g. cashiers, wait staff, receptionists, etc) wore masks permanently, regardless of what happens with Covid.

If I were a service worker interacting every 5 minutes with the general public, I would want that normalized for myself.

Likewise anybody who visits people's homes, or anybody who's usually in close quarters (e.g. doctors and nurses, dentists, beauty salon workers, etc) with people.

Hopefully after all this mask-wearing will be as normal and expected as keeping one's breath fresh, not wearing too much cologne, etc.

There'll be those who mess it up, but doing so will come with social stigma.

(This is all more a wish/hope than a prediction)

The good thing is that it’s becoming more normal.

In Japan, it's common for normal people with flu-like symptoms to wear a mask when they are in public spaces. That probably would never happen in the western countries, but would be great if it does.

> Personally, I'd be quite happy if service workers (e.g. cashiers, wait staff, receptionists, etc) wore masks permanently, regardless of what happens with Covid.

Wow, that is one of the most entitled things I have ever read. I think I can safely assume you wouldn't be in the pool of people that would have to wear a mask every day for work. Some people are working multiple simultaneous service industry jobs. This would mean they would spend most of their waking hours behind a mask for decades. All to avoid some rich asshole catching a cold.

True. I'd be happy if it stayed acceptable for them (and anyone else, myself included) to wear one if they want to; prior to Covid, taking such precautions was pretty much impossible, regardless of how vulnerable one might be or feel. Of course this would have to include types of masks with significant protection for the wearer. But I'd like for that option to stay, and I'd like it lots if society would rethink how service workers are treated with regard to such risks (not that I believe that's going to happen for real, but still)

What about the glass instead of the mask, would that be considered reasonable?

It seems like it would benefit both the server and the customer. (the glass I mean)

Alternatively, I like the idea of sick service workers being encouraged to wear masks while working. Officially, you're supposed to take time off while sick but everyone knows that is not the reality. Wearing masks while sick would both protect people and raise the visibility of that issue.

Doctors and nurses do it every day, to protect patients and themselves.

There's no reason everyone else who deals with sick people all day long can't do the same.

I've been wearing a mask at all times when indoors or near people outdoors, and I don't see a reason to stop doing that after Covid is no longer a factor.

I've got a hideous feeling that there will be a lot of places -- at least in the US -- that discourage mask-wearing as seeming "unfriendly" or "distrustful". Will a restaurant owner tell their wait staff not to wear masks, for fear of making their customers think that they're not safe?

Even aside from the political lines that have been drawn around mask wearing, I suspect that there will be a push to go back to "normal", as in "the old normal".

This headline is bait. The article says that it's only 2-3 years if the vaccines aren't effective. We'll almost certainly have an effective vaccine in that time frame, everyone and their mother is working on one.

> if the vaccines aren't effective

The common public expectation is that “effective” means “one would not even catch the virus and won’t be able to transmit it to the others with the vaccine. In reality, “effective” could mean “those with vaccine and good response to it will get less sick.” Which is something, but then, some would not even get a good response, and still could get very sick, and they also won’t know that the vaccine they received can’t protect them. And everybody with a vaccine would still be able to infect the vulnerable at least during their own asymptomatic period.

With the flu vaccines the older often aren’t fully protected, only some percent of them.

Immunology is complicated.

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-c...

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