Here's a great link regarding masking in schools. One that looks at the evidence for and against without taking into account the politics. AKA science.
Richard - this was excellent. It was a better articulation of how I feel/think. What is the end game? If masks are zero cost, why not always have kids wear them forever?
Thanks Isaac as always for the Tangle post - love reading your content. First, just so people don't make assumptions, I'm a fully vaccinated centrist and actually a big proponent of vaccine mandates wherever possible. The COVID vaccines are amazing scientific achievements and I feel we are lucky to have them made available to us. When my kids (4 and 6) are eligible for vaccination, I will not hesitate to get them vaccinated. That said, I'm having a real issue with the mask mandates for my children in school. While I'm not going to go shout at a school board meeting, I also think the science behind masking children - as opposed to the science behind vaccine efficacy - is the farthest thing from airtight. We have these broad platitudes being said like "We know masks work" - but do we really when it comes to a 5 year old? To your point, you see countries like UK, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands not masking their school kids and have had no more "outbreaks" than we've had in the states. Also, the WHO actually states that children under 5 should not be required to wear a mask. Why does the CDC guidance conflict? Lastly, the media coverage broadly lumps in all "children" as any individual under the age of 18. There are huge differences between my 6 year old and a 16 year old - not the least is that one is currently eligible for vaccination while the other is not. I'm concerned about what happens if the Pfizer vaccine is only approved for ages 6-11 in its next phase. What's the end game then for 2-5 year olds? They just continue to wear masks until a vaccine is available? That could be months/years. That seems totally anti-science and unreasonable. When do we accept that there are gonna be some people who will never get the vaccine? When are we allowed to assume the miniscule risk for our kids? The hardest part of this stage of the pandemic is understanding what are the goal posts. Again, I'm not going to stand outside the school in protest but I can completely relate to the frustration that many of these parents feel with mask mandates. I'm there myself. Thanks again.
Oops, I jumped the gun. I read only as far as when you stated you wouldn't hesitate to get your kids vaxxed when the time came.
So I apologize for not reading your entire post before responding.
This subject makes my blood boil mainly bc Gates is behind much of the funding for numerous entities that are pushing this and I know, like his father, he's a eugenicist.
List all the laws against things that you may not do. Now list all the laws that require you to do some specific thing. Laws that prohibit certain behavior are reasonable and needed. Most laws that compel behavior are neither. There is, however, a class of people who want to compel your behavior, and not just regarding masks. They want to compel you however they can.
If a law that compels behavior is needed, require the vulnerable and disabled to wear fully self-protective N95 masks. Then no one else has to be masked. But, of course, this option already is available to all, with or without mandates.
Here's a great link regarding masking in schools. One that looks at the evidence for and against without taking into account the politics. AKA science.
https://polimath.substack.com/p/the-case-against-masks-in-schools?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxNjU2MTk1LCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0MDIwMzMxOSwiXyI6IlZVWU1pIiwiaWF0IjoxNjMwNTIzNDYwLCJleHAiOjE2MzA1MjcwNjAsImlzcyI6InB1Yi00NTgwMCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.s-ccqW634ZTQKe9SKYEirN9MzQktO86TErpk4gQNTuU
Richard - this was excellent. It was a better articulation of how I feel/think. What is the end game? If masks are zero cost, why not always have kids wear them forever?
Yeah, I've been a big fan of Matt Shapiro's (Polimath on Twitter) for a while, but his COVID coverage in general has been leagues ahead of most.
Thanks Isaac as always for the Tangle post - love reading your content. First, just so people don't make assumptions, I'm a fully vaccinated centrist and actually a big proponent of vaccine mandates wherever possible. The COVID vaccines are amazing scientific achievements and I feel we are lucky to have them made available to us. When my kids (4 and 6) are eligible for vaccination, I will not hesitate to get them vaccinated. That said, I'm having a real issue with the mask mandates for my children in school. While I'm not going to go shout at a school board meeting, I also think the science behind masking children - as opposed to the science behind vaccine efficacy - is the farthest thing from airtight. We have these broad platitudes being said like "We know masks work" - but do we really when it comes to a 5 year old? To your point, you see countries like UK, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands not masking their school kids and have had no more "outbreaks" than we've had in the states. Also, the WHO actually states that children under 5 should not be required to wear a mask. Why does the CDC guidance conflict? Lastly, the media coverage broadly lumps in all "children" as any individual under the age of 18. There are huge differences between my 6 year old and a 16 year old - not the least is that one is currently eligible for vaccination while the other is not. I'm concerned about what happens if the Pfizer vaccine is only approved for ages 6-11 in its next phase. What's the end game then for 2-5 year olds? They just continue to wear masks until a vaccine is available? That could be months/years. That seems totally anti-science and unreasonable. When do we accept that there are gonna be some people who will never get the vaccine? When are we allowed to assume the miniscule risk for our kids? The hardest part of this stage of the pandemic is understanding what are the goal posts. Again, I'm not going to stand outside the school in protest but I can completely relate to the frustration that many of these parents feel with mask mandates. I'm there myself. Thanks again.
Oops, I jumped the gun. I read only as far as when you stated you wouldn't hesitate to get your kids vaxxed when the time came.
So I apologize for not reading your entire post before responding.
This subject makes my blood boil mainly bc Gates is behind much of the funding for numerous entities that are pushing this and I know, like his father, he's a eugenicist.
The vax which was approved has not been manufactured, yet.
The FDA doc states, I believe on page 12, that the EUA has been extended.
This was to encourage people to get vaxxed.
So I have a question: do you think that in an experiment all trial samples are the same?
This is an experiment, afterall. We are in uncharted territory.
The results have been inconsistent.
Different countries are not getting the same mixtures of an specific manufacturer.
Even different demographics within those countries have variations. That is why the authorities employ placebos.
They need a control group for comparison.
Isaac, you need to add an edit button. Please.
List all the laws against things that you may not do. Now list all the laws that require you to do some specific thing. Laws that prohibit certain behavior are reasonable and needed. Most laws that compel behavior are neither. There is, however, a class of people who want to compel your behavior, and not just regarding masks. They want to compel you however they can.
If a law that compels behavior is needed, require the vulnerable and disabled to wear fully self-protective N95 masks. Then no one else has to be masked. But, of course, this option already is available to all, with or without mandates.