[dageshi]

I wear masks when my country mandates that I should. But I think the issue is this...

Covid is here to stay, many countries have very high vaccination rates at this point, so effectively if we continue to wear masks even in very high vaccination countries we're essentially saying we have to wear them forever, because what's going to change? Unless some new vaccine comes out that actually prevents transmission covid is a permanent thing.

And to put it simply, while I understood the need to wear one when we had no vaccines because anything that helped was a good idea, I'm not sure I'm prepared to wear one indefinitely.

[hn_throwaway_99]

I think the point you and the sibling comment makes are good ones: health authorities, at least in the US, have never been clear on the exit criteria for ending interventions, and the goal posts have continually been moved. Remember when "flatten the curve" was the original goal early in the pandemic? That almost seems like a quaint notion now.

But that said, with an endemic disease I think the idea behind flatten the curve is the only one that makes sense - that is, masks should only be required if health care facilities are at risk of being overloaded. I'm fully vaccinated, so the only time I'll wear a mask are if transmission rates in my area are currently high (or if I'm entering a place that has a specific mask mandate - I don't enjoy wearing a mask but I also don't think it's a very big deal so I don't understand why so many choose it as their hill to die on).

[marcosdumay]

> health authorities, at least in the US, have never been clear on the exit criteria for ending interventions

"When we are confident we are not hours away from a nationwide medical emergency" is not easy to communicate. I'm sure if they literally said that, all the people complaining they have no clear exit criteria would loudly complain it is not clear; what, of course it isn't. If people knew all the details about how the pandemic will behave, they would have told you.

[hn_throwaway_99]

> When we are confident we are not hours away from a nationwide medical emergency

Huh? We've basically never been "hours away" from any sort of national emergency at any time during this pandemic, and that sort of unwarranted catastrophizing is what frustrates so many people.

Heck, my city, like many, does have easily understood, rational criteria for additional recommended interventions based on hospital intake rates. My only objection is that our local authorities have ignored their own criteria frequently by raising a stage level prematurely or by keeping at a high stage weeks and months after hospitalization rates have gone down.