As we close a year of the COVID-19 pandemic – and more and more Americans are vaccinated – many people are beginning to wonder how much longer we will have to wear face masks in public.
Some states, including Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, Mississippi and Texas, have recently ended their mask mandates.
But not wearing a mask at the moment is a ‘very bad idea, especially with the spreading variants’, says Richard Watkins, managing director, a doctor for infectious diseases and a professor of internal medicine at the Northeast. Ohio Medical University.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still recommends that people 2 years and older wear a mask in public around people outside their household – which begs the question: when will we realistically stop wearing face masks? And will it become the new normal during the cold and flu season? This is what infectious disease experts know so far.
When can we stop wearing face masks?
This is ‘hard to say’, as the use of the face mask is often linked to the end of the pandemic, says Dr Watkins. But, he adds, “if and when we reach herd immunity, carrying of machines could probably be stopped.” (Herd immunity means that a majority of the population is immune to a contagious disease, which provides indirect protection to those who are not immune to the disease, such as newborns or vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated due to health risks.)
Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently told CNN that it would be ‘possible’ public health officials to recommend masks in 2022. However, he said life against that time should seem normal,, “We will have a significant degree of normality above the terrible burden we have all gone through over the past year.”
Doctors agree that masks are likely to be recommended for a while. “Preventing infection remains the best way to reduce disease and death, and the best prevention is due to wearing a mask and social distance,” says Lewis Nelson, MD, chair of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “Until we have better information about the development of viral strains and the efficacy of current or future vaccines, we need to wear masks in many of our interpersonal interactions.”
It is likely that there will be some sort of masking lead until there is a “sufficient decrease in the spread of the virus in the community,” says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It could be late in 2021 because more people will have access to the vaccine.”
Even if you have been fully vaccinated, the CDC recommends that you still wear a mask in public, as it is unclear whether vaccinated people can still transmit COVID-19 to others who have yet to receive the vaccine.
As for the actual mask mandates, “it will be done on a state-by-state basis,” says Dr Adalja. But as the spread of COVID-19 in certain areas decreases, mask mandates may eventually disappear, he notes.
Will face masks be recommended after the COVID-19 pandemic?
Luis AlvarezGetty Images
This is possible, especially since it is proven that masks prevent infection. Influenza season was virtually non-existent this year – data from the CDC found that since September, there have been only 1,500 cases of clinically diagnosed flu. This is a huge decrease compared to last year’s flu season, with about 56 million cases.
That’s why experts say that masks can have endurance – at least during the cold and flu season. “Masks were common in Asia before COVID, so I expect more people in the US would be comfortable wearing them after the pandemic,” says Dr. Watkins.
Dr. Adalja points out that it is always recommended that people wear a mask if they have a respiratory virus, even before the pandemic. “It will not change, but more people will probably like it,” he says.
And some people may continue to wear masks in public, such as overcrowded areas and with public transportation, simply because they have seen that masks can work to prevent disease, says Dr. Adalja.
Doctors say they need to mask for the time being until public health officials give Americans the green light to go public without one.
This article is accurate from press time. As the COVID-19 pandemic develops rapidly and the scientific community’s understanding of the new coronavirus develops, some information may have changed since it was last updated. As we strive to keep all our stories up to date, please visit the online resources provided by the CDC, WHO, and yours local department of public health to stay up to date with the latest news. Always talk to your doctor for professional medical advice.
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