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Comment by chaostheory | Hacker News Reader

I feel that you need to include the people for masks and those against it. Unlike vaccines, masks do not lose efficacy over time or due to new variants. Both anti-vax and pro-vaccine supporters can fall into the anti-mask category. I don’t understand why people in the West are so anti-mask. It's been two years since I've gotten sick with anything.

1. Covid-recovered and Vaccinated + pro-mask

2. Covid-recovered and Partly-vaccinated + pro-mask

3. Covid-recovered + pro-mask

4. Vaccinated + pro-mask

5. Partly-vaccinated (< 14 days after 2nd shot) + pro-mask

6. Covid-recovered and Vaccinated + anti-mask

7. Covid-recovered and Partly-vaccinated + anti-mask

8. Covid-recovered + anti-mask

9. Vaccinated + anti-mask

10. Partly-vaccinated (< 14 days after 2nd shot) + anti-mask

11. Covid-naive + Unvaccinated + anti-mask

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> I don’t understand why people in the West are so anti-mask.

"anti-mask" has an implicit spin where it sounds like you're claiming a person is against the idea of anyone wearing a mask, but then often apply the label to a person who is perfectly fine with masks so long as the person wearing the mask is doing so of their own volition.

so i say split that category, and then the major categories might be more like "pro-universal-masking", "anti-universal-masking" (i.e. "individual choice"), and "anti-mask-wearing-in-public" (not only doesn't want to wear a mask, but doesn't want the people around them to be wearing a mask).

> in the West are so anti-mask. It's been two years since I've gotten sick with anything.

For one data point, I'm vaccinated, had Omicron, and am now "anti-mask", as in, I think they are more harmful to me than not wearing a mask. The vaccines/boosters only target one protein, of 28. I want periodic exposure to all the proteins, to keep my immunity up and minimize my risk for now and future variants.

Of course, I wear a mask as a courtesy for others. But, if nobody around me has a mask, I will remove mine.

> I want periodic exposure to all the proteins, to keep my immunity up and minimize my risk for now and future variants.

I think this makes sense to say now that the new variants are becoming less and less lethal. At the same time, this sounds similar to anti-vaccine arguments.

> At the same time, this sounds similar to anti-vaccine arguments.

I don't see how, since I didn't mention vaccination. Vaccination for initial immunity reduces the risk incredibly, with boosters reducing it even more. Also, it would be very unlikely that all all anti-vaccine arguments are wrong, since that would require the vaccines to be risk free and perfect. We know they aren't, since people have died directly from vaccination, and it's failing in trials for young children. But, the relative risk is mostly negligible compared to the the actual disease, for almost all.

You don't have to mention vaccination. That is pretty much anti-vax rationale for not getting vaccinated. You just applied it to masking.

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