TO MASK UP, OR NOT TO MASK UP. THAT IS THE QUESTION.

After the past week of numbers and metrics being considered by the experts, the question now becomes do we mask up, or are we truly safe in the areas mentioned by the CDC. We've all waited for more than a year now for the world to start to head in the opposite direction, to start to return to some resemblance of normal. While it may be time to start looking for a bright cloud on the horizon, there are still many questions to be answered about the future and Covid-19.

One of those questions is will we be facing the need for boosters. As recently as last month the nations leading infectious disease expert just was not sure about boosters and gave an interview to Fox News. During the interview, the question of how long will your vaccine will protect you was asked of Dr. Fauci.

"We don't know the answer to that for the simple reason that we don't know what the durability of the protection against the standard virus is," said Fauci.

"The most recent reports said at least six months but it might be much longer. It could be years for all we know."

Dr. Anthony Fauci

So, as the CDC is starting to give the green light to the things that we can return to normal, the experts are uncertain of how long the virus will last. As I look around my local area, I realize that under the best of circumstances, it might take years for my hometown to fully recover, if ever. Businesses are open, and it's good to see families going out to dinner, people less afraid to socialize, and things starting to open up. But, what about the effect of the pandemic. If the variant strains cause a resurgence, or the vaccines, which were put together in record time, don't hold up and we have a resurgence of standard Covid-19, couldn't we see another round of lockdowns?

"It's entirely feasible that there may not be a need for a Covid-19 booster shot," said Dr. Fauci. He reassures that the National Institutes of Health and the CDCP are preparing for the worst.

So, should we be demasking just yet? Some states have done away with the requirements for masking. Others have not. It all comes down to comfort at this point as nobody, not the NIH or CDCP, seems to be certain of the effectiveness of the vaccines against the virus. In late April it was pointed out that variants like the one from South Africa, designated B.1.351, diminished the protection of the vaccine a fair amount. The virus may not be as likely to cause severe disease, hospitalization, or death but your chances go up that you'll end up quite sick from it, compared to the B.1.1.7 strand, also known as the UK Variant.

It all seems to come down to the number of people vaccinated and whether or not things should continue down the path they're on. I know, after this past year, I can't wait for movie theaters to get into the full swing of the summer blockbuster season. While I wear a mask to the stores, not because I've ever wanted to, but because it helps to keep people from catching the virus if by some happenstance I might have it, I'm ready to stop wearing one.

The best question to ask an expert might have been whether he would go to a packed Nationals game if he knew everyone was vaccinated.

"You gave a beautiful hypothetical. I would hope that we would have that situation where everyone agrees to get vaccinated, which I really hope they do, because the more people get vaccinated, the greater proportion of people that get vaccinated, the more easy it will be to get to the point where you could sit at an unlimited capacity Nationals game, have a hot dog and a beer, and not worry about anything."

"It doesn't have to be everybody. If it were 95 percent of the people, I'd still feel comfortable."

Dr. Anthony Fauci

So, we're very close and the possibility is there that we might be closer to it being safe than we think. The recent posts from the CDC list a number of things that should now be safe if you're fully vaccinated. Looking at the list it's easy to see where people that are unvaccinated and could be carrying the disease should still be exercising caution, and hopefully, they are all doing so.

I'm going to share this little bit of information for any of you out there that are on the fence. I was like you at first and made a choice. I'll by no means tell or insist that my choice was the correct one or the one that everybody made, but rather that it was one I chose for myself and that I hope everybody does the same. On Friday, May 14th I received the second Moderna vaccination shot. I did so because this is a worldwide issue facing humanity. It faces every single one of us in some way, whether we would be the infected, the immune, or just someone that lost loved ones to the virus.

Both shots and I am fine. My experience was some pain in the arm after the first one. After the second one, which I'll admit I was scared of because everyone said, "it's the second one they're seeing the worst reactions to," I saw no noticeable reaction from the injection. I went about my day, did all the things I normally would, and felt no different.

Being fully vaccinated, I went to Walmart the next day. As Walmart posted and informed the news, they would no longer, as a company, be requiring people who were vaccinated to wear a mask. I still wore one, because until they have a way to vet people by vaccine cards or some sort of I.D. then they'll still need people to wear a mask. I still don't know how well the vaccines are going to work. Being fully vaccinated means, at least to me, that there's a chance I won't get Covid-19, or at least not the standard strain. But, there are, according to recent reports, only 175,000,000 people that have gotten at least one shot.

Until we have actually beaten Covid-19 out of existence, we may be able to spend less time masked up, protecting ourselves, and distant as a people. We have to still remember that much like last year it is, ultimately, up to us to decide how best to protect ourselves and our loved ones, and that's alright. With the trauma of our world shutting down to the point where our existence was nearly a non-existence, it is better that we go slowly back, into the future, than to risk doing it wrong. Our businesses can stay open that way. Our children can go to school and still have some resemblance of childhood that way. Life will eventually get back to normal (whatever that might mean) that way. After all, it has only been 18 months.

So, if you're one of the few readers that knows me, I'll answer the question for myself right now. Yes, I'm fully vaccinated. No, I'm not ready to take off the mask just yet, at least not to the extent they say we can. I'll be the better safe than the sorry guy for a little bit longer.

Thanks for your time reading this. Feel free to leave a comment if you found this on Facebook or social media. Click on the heart button at the bottom if you thought it was good. If you're interested, feel free to check out any of my other stories, articles, or pieces of work.

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