Despite What the CDC Says, My Mask Is Staying Put

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To be clear, I hate wearing a mask. I get easily flustered, and adding a sweat-inducing cloth to my face isn't my idea of a great time. But the truth is, wearing a mask isn't just about me. It's about my immunocompromised neighbor, your grandmother at the food store, and (most importantly, to me) keeping my unvaccinated son safe.

So when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the announcement on May 13 that masks were no longer required, I had one reaction: WTF?

Like many folks out there, I've been following the CDC guidelines pretty staunchly, even when it felt like the rules were rapidly changing.

After all, science isn't always linear; it evolves and we have to adapt. There was a brand-new virus plaguing the globe – I figured findings would unravel as we went. So when the CDC first claimed masks didn't work, I believed it.

In a clip on 60 Minutes, Dr. Anthony Fauci said: “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences — people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face.”

I remember my mom calling me to tell me that we all needed to wear masks now, and me laughing and chirping this quote back at her, only to find out Fauci walked back on this statement.

Fauci later noted that his concern was that there wouldn't be enough PPE, or personal protective equipment, for health professionals, and if the toilet paper saga of 2020 told us anything, his gut check was at least fair. So I purchased cloth and disposable masks and did my duty as a citizen to protect my loved ones.

The thing is, science deals in varying stages of absolutes. Just like Fauci's statements of not wearing a mask was wrong, the decision to de-mask might be as well.

So, forgive me if I am hesitant to follow suit because he, along with the CDC, now claims that my fully vaccinated self can "put aside the mask." Because frankly, although I'm fully vaxxed, my 3-year old boy isn't, and that honestly scares me to death.

Though thankfully kids have not been overwhelmingly physically impacted by the virus, the variants making their way to US shores tell a different story. Many officials also added caveats to the announcement, noting that people on public transportation, in schools, and in crowds would still need a mask to protect the unvaccinated and immunocompromised.

So in the grand scheme of things, keeping my mask in place for a while longer is truly not that big of a deal.

If it protects my more vulnerable neighbors, including children such as mine and everyone else's, I'll don that frustrating piece of cloth as long as I need to. No matter what side of the political aisle we fall on, I think keeping our children healthy and safe is a value we all share. And until there is a safe vaccine for them, I'll continue to keep my mask on.

Because if there is even a slight chance that I could transmit this disease that has claimed 580K US lives, I'm happy to stay masked until we've reached more of a herd immunity.

If I can save myself or anyone's family just a little heartache, my inconvenience is worth it. And perhaps I am being too cautious, too "doomsday-ish." I do know that for now that keeping my mask in place until we learn more will give me peace of mind. And frankly, after a year of fear and exhaustion and chaos, I'm holding onto my sanity as tightly as I can.