‘Mask Up, America’ Made Sense in 2020. Now? Not So Much.
Universal masking was sound policy before Covid-fighting tools emerged. Now that there are vaccines, medicines and better science, the costs might be starting to outweigh the benefits.
Can we talk?
Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesThe importance of masks to public health is fading as other pandemic-fighting tools emerge: highly effective vaccines, better tests and now powerful antiviral drugs. So it’s time to consider making masks optional in most settings.
It made sense to turn to masks when Covid-19 was spreading fast in the spring of 2020. The benefits weren’t (and still aren’t) measurable with the same kind of rigorous science that’s been applied to vaccines, but it was reasonable to assume that universal masking could slow the spread of disease and death when little else was available.