This is a very important point -- masks prevent COVID and are valuable in places where many people are dying of COVID. Currently, this is many places.
However, that doesn't mean that a cost-benefit analysis suggests, "everyone should wear masks until COVID is eradicated"
However, that doesn't mean that a cost-benefit analysis suggests, "everyone should wear masks until COVID is eradicated"
https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1437003229875871745
The value of masks in places where nearly everyone is vaccinated is clearly lower. Caution is necessary since, in many parts of the world, the vaccines being used have lower efficacy than in the US, meaning that masks likely have value on top of vaccines.
Additionally, masks may prevent breakthrough cases which may eventually spread to unvaccinated people. However, I haven't seen a quantitative calculation of the magnitude of this benefit -- it may be small.
Even in places where few people are dying but cases are rising, masks are very likely part of a suite of policies that should be employed to get R < 1.
In places where cases are low but few people are vaccinated, there is probably a case for mask-wearing, but again, it would be nice to see some modeling and more detailed calculations to ascertain the benefits.
A ballpark figure I keep in mind is that given the average death rate in the US over the last 18 months (or the last month...), wearing a mask for a year generates ~$10,000 in reduced mortality risk.
This is a rough estimate ignoring many factors (like morbidity), but it gives a sense of magnitudes -- if mortality risk is 1/100th the average, these are places where the value of mask-wearing is low.
Of course, setting matters too. If you're indoors in a poorly ventilated area with many strangers, the case is likely strong even if many are vax'ed. If you're in a car with a vaccinated friend you see several times a week in a region with few deaths, the case is much weaker.
Masks are generally one of the lower cost controls available (relative to quarantines or distancing). However, in (the few) places with near universal vaccination, it is not clear that any controls pass a cost-benefit test when the benefits may be negligible.
The goal of anti-COVID policy should be to get most of the people in the world to a place where public mask-wearing is either never necessary or needed only during rare outbreaks. In most places, masking today can complement vaccines in getting us there.
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