The Honor System vs Immunology

 The question prompted by the CDC's surprise announcement that you don't have to wear a mask if you're fully vaccinated is "How do I know the maskless person next to me is really vaccinated?"

This misreads the statement by the CDC and the nature of emerging from the pandemic and the typically shitty way that the CDC, the WHO and other public health institutions have communicated with the public.

If you are fully vaccinated, you are basically immune from the virus. Even if you do get a "breakthrough infection" it will be mild. So, that person standing next to you without a mask might as well be masked, because you are basically immune.

The problem is not so much that I - as a fully vaccinated person - will get sick. Right now, my youngest son is a few days away from the Dos Dose, so we are about 17 days away from family unit immunity. At THAT point, I will feel pretty free to discard my mask. As it is, I feel weird about doffing the mask, because there is a social etiquette involved. If you're wearing one, I will wear one.

Once my family is fully vaccinated, we can go about without a mask and it would be roughly the same as if we were masked. That, I think, is the meaning of the CDC's new guidelines. 

However, the goal needs to be getting to 75-80% vaccination. At the moment, the most urgent populations have mostly been vaccinated, and the so-called "slowdown" has stabilized. There are various clever ways that state and local governments and private institutions are incentivizing vaccinations, but the "vaccine passport" would be the gold standard...and also something we aren't going to do. Biden is not going to expend political capital to create a massive partisan backlash over FREEDUMB!!!1!1 

Ideally, telling people that if they get fully vaccinated, they can drop the masks would dramatically incentivize getting the vaccine, but we know full well that a certain segment is simply going to drop their masks and risk spreading the disease. My hope is that the CDC and Biden Administration is looking at data that suggests that 25% simply won't get the vaccine and says, "Fuck'em." You don't need that many people vaccinated to still get to herd immunity. It really sucks for the immunocompromised who can't take the vaccine, but I guess that's just the breaks. 

Pretty much we are at a place where if you want a vaccine, you can get a vaccine. Easing the hurdles still needs to be done - mobile clinics, clinics at churches and schools - but we will get to that 75% number in June, I think, maybe July. 

So, those unvaccinated assholes who want to come cough in my face? I'm bulletproof and you're still an asshole.