But even under the eased U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention rules, which say people like her who are vaccinated
against COVID-19 need not wear masks outside in most cases, the
70-year-old retired teacher said she would keep hers on around
others as a courtesy.
"I don't really want to make a total stranger go through, 'Should I
cross the street? Has she been vaccinated? Could she be infected?'"
said Glick, fully inoculated since February.
She added that she might keep wearing masks in the future to help
with her seasonal allergies, even though "they're a pain, and they
fog up my glasses, and if I've just eaten something I'm smelling it
all day".
Many vaccinated Americans started tentatively shedding their masks
this week, a major break from behavior they were conditioned to
exhibit for more than a year to help curb the coronavirus pandemic.
Beyond their disease prevention benefits, masks in the United States
have become symbols of political views and morality. Those
associations have made it harder for some people to take off their
masks, despite the developing scientific guidance.
Interviews with more than a dozen people in and around the nation's
capital revealed a variety of reasons why some Americans are
reluctant to remove their masks - or never felt compelled to wear
them outside in the first place.
College students Emmanuel Long and AJ Barber, both 19 and fully
vaccinated, wore masks this week while visiting the Lincoln
Memorial.
Long worried the CDC was premature in saying masking outdoors is not
necessary unless in crowds, since COVID-19 is still a very real
risk, particularly for immuno-compromised people.
"You feel naked if you don't go outside with a mask on," Barber
said.
The CDC's rule change has tested Americans' faith in the COVID-19
vaccines, which have been administered to more than 148 million
people in the United States. Some who are vaccinated noted the rare
cases where inoculated people contract the virus as their reason for
feeling uncomfortable without a mask.
"I don't think I'm Superman," said Andrew Nussbaum, 57, his mask
nearby as he drank coffee at an outdoor table in Great Falls,
Virginia, a suburban community some 20 miles from Washington.
Nussbaum, who is vaccinated against COVID-19, said he was recently
alarmed when he went to a friend's house and learned that some at
the indoor gathering had not gotten their shots.
"I still worry that I will pick it up, I might be one of those weird
cases," he said.
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LINGERING SKEPTICISM
Vivi Smith, a 60-year-old lawyer in Washington,
said the CDC lost some credibility with her when
it "flip-flopped" on masks at the start of the
pandemic. The agency and other health officials
initially said the general public did not need
to wear masks, but later walked back that
guidance and attributed it to their concerns
over mask shortages for healthcare workers.
Smith wore a mask as she and several friends
planted elderberries at her local community
garden last week. Although they are fully
vaccinated, she knows many in her area who are
not and does not want to take a chance.
"I respect your right right now to follow the
CDC and not wear a mask outdoors," she said.
"But if I see you coming, I'm crossing the
street!"
The new guidance also rang hollow in some
suburban and rural areas where mask-wearing was
less common outdoors, and in conservative states
and counties where the practice was never widely
adopted.
Many Americans in those places saw mask mandates
as infringing on personal liberty, views
encouraged by former President Donald Trump, who
said mask use should be voluntary, undermining
the advice of his public health advisors.
Erin Lobato, 55, said the CDC announcement had
not changed her life in Great Falls. She said
she rarely wore a mask outside, although she is
not vaccinated, and never felt the peer pressure
to do so that she said she had heard about in
larger, more liberal cities.
"It's nice to be able to see that the CDC is
catching up and hopefully enabling all of us to
get back to some sense of normal soon," said
Lobato, who runs a local nonprofit promoting the
town.
City-dweller Tobias Krahnke felt a different
kind of relief. Previously, the 35-year-old
economist said, he had been wary of giving any
appearance that he supported the conservative,
anti-mask movement. But this week he felt
empowered to go maskless while playing tennis at
a D.C. park.
"You don't want to be associated with a Trump
voter," he said. "But now you can just say
'Look, I'm just following the CDC guidelines.'"
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Additional
reporting by Maria Caspani; Editing by Colleen
Jenkins and Daniel Wallis)
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