In support of the CDC's new mask guidance


Actually, masking up is good.
With the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus spreading like wildfire in much of the country, the CDC on Tuesday again revised its guidance on mask-wearing — recommending that everyone, including vaccinated persons, wear masks indoors in high-transmission communities. There was, predictably, an immediate backlash. Missouri's Republican attorney general threatened to sue the mayor of Kansas City for re-imposing an indoor mask mandate in the city. "The federal government cares more about masks than vaccines," Reason's Robby Soave wrote on Twitter.
That's silly. Federal officials have been encouraging and begging and wheedling the public to get vaccinated for months — and doing it in the face of rather vocal opposition from the Fox News crowd. But even if all the holdouts got their first shots today, putting on masks might still be the most effective short-term measure to take against Delta's spread.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Why? Because immunity takes time to develop, while putting on a mask is something you can do right this minute. We already know that a single dose of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines is less effective against Delta than it has been against the original virus; people aren't considered fully vaccinated until roughly two weeks after they've received their second dose. So even if everything went perfectly with the vaccine campaign from this moment going forward, it would still be more than a month before the newly inoculated would be comfortably protected against the virus.
Meanwhile, we know mask mandates can be effective. The CDC found last year that in my own state of Kansas, COVID cases dropped in the 24 counties that required facial coverings — and rose in the 81 counties that didn't.
Is it fair to force vaccinated people to wear masks again because of the truculence of the unvaxxed? Probably not, though the requirement doesn't seem all that burdensome to me, particularly if it helps alleviate the pressure on our shared medical system. But one of the other benefits of a renewed mandate is that it will help Americans visually identify who is taking the ongoing pandemic seriously and who isn't — who is willing to make a tiny sacrifice for the greater good and who needs to thump their chest about freedom. Call it a vaccine passport for your face.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
Delivery drivers face continuing heat danger with Trump's OSHA pick
The Explainer David Keeling is the former head of UPS and also worked at Amazon
-
Is that the buzzing sound of climate change worsening sleep apnea?
Under the radar Catching diseases, not those ever-essential Zzs
-
Crossword: July 3, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Is Trump's military parade 'just a parade'?
Talking Point Critics see an 'echo of authoritarianism'
-
Is Trump's LA troop deployment about order or authoritarianism?
Talking Points President: 'We're going to have troops everywhere.'
-
Is Trump trying to take over Congress?
Talking Points Separation of powers at stake in Library of Congress fight
-
The anger fueling the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez barnstorming tour
Talking Points The duo is drawing big anti-Trump crowds in red states
-
Why the GOP is nervous about Ken Paxton's Senate run
Today's Big Question A MAGA-establishment battle with John Cornyn will be costly
-
Bombs or talks: What's next in the US-Iran showdown?
Talking Points US gives Tehran a two-month deadline to deal