As we approach 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 need to wear face masks in public.
Some states, including Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, Mississippi and Texas, recently announced the end of their mask mandates.
But not wearing a mask now is “a bad idea, especially with the spread variants,” says Richard Watkins, MD, an infectious physician and professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still recommend that people aged 2 and over wear a mask in public near people outside their home – which begs the question: When will we realistically stop wearing face masks? And will they become the new normal during the cold and flu season? Here’s what infectious disease experts know so far.
When can we safely stop wearing masks?
It is “difficult to say”, since the end of regular use of a face mask is linked to an end to the pandemic, says Dr. Watkins. But, he adds, “if and when we achieve collective immunity, routine mask use is likely to be discontinued.” (Herd immunity means that the majority of the population is immune to an infectious disease, providing 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 United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently told CNN that it is “possible” for public health officials to continue to recommend masks in 2022. However, he said, life must seem more normal by then, adding, “We will have a significant degree of normalcy in addition to the terrible burden that we all went through last year.”
Doctors agree that the masks are likely to be recommended for a while. “Infection prevention remains the best way to reduce disease and death, and the best prevention comes from wearing masks and social detachment,” said Lewis Nelson, MD, head of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “Until we have better information about the development of strains of viral variants and the effectiveness of current or future vaccines, we have to use masks in many of our interpersonal interactions.”
It is likely that some type of mask guidance will be in effect until there is “a sufficient reduction in the spread of the virus by the community,” said infectious disease specialist Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety “This could be in late 2021, as more people have access to the vaccine.”
Even if you have been fully vaccinated, the CDC still recommends that you continue to wear a mask in public, as it is not clear whether vaccinated people can still transmit COVID-19 to others who have not yet received the vaccine.
As for the actual masking mandates, “this will be done in each state,” says Dr. Adalja. But as the COVID-19 spread narrows in certain areas, the masks’ mandates may eventually disappear, he notes.
Will face masks be recommended after the COVID-19 pandemic?
Luis AlvarezGetty Images
It is possible, especially since the masks are proven to prevent infections. The flu season has barely existed this year – data from the CDC found that there were only 1,500 cases of flu clinically diagnosed since September. It is a huge drop compared to last year’s flu season, which saw about 56 million cases.
Because of this, experts say the masks can have a staying power – at least during the cold and flu season. “Masks were common in Asia before COVID, so I hope that more people in the United States will be comfortable using them after the pandemic,” said Dr. Watkins.
Dr. Adalja points out that it has always been recommended that people wear a mask if they have a respiratory virus, even before the pandemic. “It won’t change, but more people are likely to join it,” he says.
And some people may continue to use masks in public, such as crowded areas and on public transport, simply because they have seen that masks can work to help prevent disease, notes Dr. Adalja.
For now, doctors say, keep masking yourself until public health officials give Americans the green light to go out in public without one.
This article is correct at the time of publication. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves rapidly and the scientific community’s understanding of the new coronavirus develops, some of the information may have changed since the last update. While our goal is to keep all of our stories up to date, visit the online resources provided by CDC, WHOit’s yours local department of public health to stay informed about the latest news. Always speak to your doctor for professional medical advice.
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