TAlthough the first Covid-19 vaccines are now being given to health care workers, other front-line workers, and the elderly in the United States, it will probably take months before enough Americans are vaccinated to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2. And with a more contagious variant, called B.1.1.7, spreading worldwide – for which the efficacy of the vaccine is still unknown – more needs to be done to prevent as many infections and save as many lives as possible. If you wear a mask, you can help it.
Wearing a mask or face mask in two high-risk scenarios can prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. This includes being indoors with others outside of your immediate social bubble, in places like grocery stores, indoor malls, restaurants, churches, public transportation and the like; and to be outside in a crowd.
Although most masks provide some protection for the wearers and those around them, many masks, including the widely used cloth and surgical masks, filter the small Covid-19 dispersing particles, known as aerosols, that people emit when they cough. , sneezing, only partially. breathe, and speak. As shown in a recent study, high filter (hi-fi) masks like N95 masks are the best protection against these small particles.
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As the country awaits the promotion of the population’s immunity through vaccination, we need a National Hi-Fi Masking Initiative to remove masks that provide more protection against droplets and aerosol virus particles and also the number of people infected in the area to reduce. with SARS-CoV-2.
Wearing a hi-fi mask reduces the chance of becoming infected with Covid-19 while you are in close contact with someone who has the disease. Two of us (AK and RD) have direct experience with it: we have been wearing N95 masks for the past year while caring for Covid-19 patients and not catching Covid-19, which has been frequently shown by negative PCR tests.
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Such masks can have the same effect in indoor environments and can also help limit the spread of events.
As the spread of SARS-CoV-2 increases nationwide again, there is a good chance that contaminated aerosols will be released and stay in the air at indoor places where people visit. It can, to some extent, explain infections in people who have otherwise “done everything right” but still become infected.
Early in the pandemic, we suggested the need for such masks, pointing out that masks would be one way to get people back to school or work safely. In July, we signed an open letter calling for a national masquerade initiative, which was also signed by more than 70 public health scientists and advocates, including two former Senate leaders, two former cabinet officials and several others. leading epidemiologists and infectious diseases. experts.
Later this month, a new government plans to set up the pandemic, asking for 100 days of masking. This is a good start. But the Biden government must also do something at the same time: call on the Defense Production Act to immediately increase the production of already certified hi-fi masks, as well as to accelerate the development of new designs.
For example, early in the pandemic, the South Korean government started buying and shipping large quantities of KF-94 masks (equivalent to N95s) to ensure that everyone had access to them.
Ideally, a set of masks should be mailed to every U.S. household each month – the cost of doing so pales in comparison to the pandemic’s lives and the economy. The use of such masks, in combination with other risk reduction strategies, would create safer workspaces for essential workers, many of whom are not currently prioritized for early vaccinations.
Since the pandemic began, surgery and cloth masks have become widely available in pharmacies, grocery stores, hardware stores, online and elsewhere. Hi-fi masks should also be made available in the same locations everywhere, some of which are already coordinating with the federal government to export Covid-19 vaccines.
Given the unprecedented scope of Covid-19’s vaccination programs, its implementation may not be as smooth as hoped. Issues with the production and supply chain, coupled with fragmented uptake, are likely to mean delays until the country reaches the point of functional herd immunity.
More and better masks can help bring us up to that point with fewer infections and deaths. With validated designs already on the market, the production of hi-fi masks can be done relatively quickly.
The value of a National Hi-Fi masking initiative will last long after this pandemic is extinguished. It’s only a matter of time until we face another respiratory pathogen such as SARS-CoV-2, or even a potential bioweapon, which could be even worse. In such scenarios – as with Covid-19 – vaccines will take months to be ready.
Just as every home should have a fire extinguisher, every person should have access to a hifi mask that can be used to protect against such threats.
Abraar Karan and Ranu Dhillon are physicians at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Devabhaktuni Srikrishna is the founder of Patient knowledge, which compiles patients’ educational content on YouTube, including a list of N95 masks and hi-fi alternatives. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of their institutions.