Thread by @Supermansings

🧵 on masks, vaccines and gathering in the age of COVID. There is so much confusion in the general public and even docs in the face of changing guidelines and all the misinformation out there, balanced with our desire for normalcy. I get asked often, so here is how I do it. 1/

I fully admit, it may not be perfect, but I have assessed the risks to myself and my family, and I am comfortable with this plan. We are all triple vaxxed and i have had a mild case of COVID. 2/

Situation 1- stores, indoors with mixed or unknown vax status, strangers. Mask up. Is it REALLY protecting me? Probably not. But I’m potentially protecting unvaxxed or under-vaxxed others, so I’m good with that. 3/

Situation 2- in a group of friends or family with 100% full vaccination. We live normal lives. This is the goal. This is the POINT. We have frightened some into thinking that this is bad behavior and it is NOT. our case rate is never going to zero. Too late for that. 4/

Our goal is no longer elimination, it’s likely too late for that, and maybe always was. We are trying to minimize suffering, death and over-utilization of healthcare resources. My 100% vaxxed group gathering is not going to meaningfully contribute to any of those things. 5/

Much of the resistance to mitigation strategies seems to be coming out of the frustration that even if we shut down things, even if we get the vaccine, that we are NEVER going back to a semblance of normalcy, so they think “What’s the point?” 6/

That is not my approach. I sell the vaccine as a solution to a terrible problem. Which it is. It lets you kiss your mom, hug your sister, sit inside and smile at each other again without fear of murdering them by accident. 7/

There are those who think that this is too risky. That any case is too many. That a group of fully vaxxed people may be drivers of variants, though the virus burns unchecked through the unvaccinated populace. To those, I would say…chill the hell out. We aren’t the problem. 8/

We have a new disease. It will likely be with us in some form forever. The further down the road towards having either vaccine induced or infection induced immunity, the more the hospitalizations and death curves will decouple from the case curve. This is good and necessary. 9/

Now, before you come at me, realize that I am assessing the risk of ME and MY family. Not yours. You may have a relative or friend with cancer. Or immune suppression. Those risks should be weighed in context and appropriate protective measures should be taken. For YOUR group. 10/

But if you are person out there in healthcare or not, who is telling people that masks, distancing and LIFE should not change at all even in a group of healthy vaccinated people, I submit that you may not be helping, and in fact may be driving people away. 11/

This ran long. Sorry I’m wordy. In summary- get your freaking vaccine, wear your masks in public spaces, don’t lick doorknobs, and if you want to hang out with a group of fully vaccinated low risk people without masks, go nuts. I’ve got your back. ~fin