The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a major change to its public health guidelines last week when it said that fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear face masks or coverings in almost all indoor or outdoor settings, as I reported for the Deseret News.
Of course, the CDC still recommends people wear masks in public settings — especially large ones like sporting events and businesses where masks are required.
So basically, if you’re vaccinated — mask off. If you’re not vaccinated — mask on. But that requires people to rely on the honor system.
“You’re gonna be depending on people being honest enough to say whether they are vaccinated or not,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN.
Still, the honor system is easier to promote than to follow. Per The Washington Post, the United States is so polarized right now that it’s hard for people to gain trust with each other. There’s no telling if someone is really vaccinated or not, raising suspicion among Americans about whether their neighbor got their vaccine jabs.
“In an intensely polarized nation, many people have little faith that their maskless fellow Americans have actually been vaccinated,” according to The Washington Post. “That lack of trust, fueled by the ongoing politicization of the pandemic, tears at the fabric of a public health strategy built on the assumption that other people will do the right thing.”
But Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, told CNN that the CDC relying on the honor system isn’t good enough — and it’s not working.
“I say this respectfully to the CDC but we really need to get back to a point where it’s encouraging (people) to get vaccinated and more of that focus rather than celebrating our newfound freedoms,” he said.
“Because the honor system just ain’t working here, I don’t think it’s going to work in a lot of parts in this country,” Lucas added.
“It creates these sort of challenges where, how does the store clerk check it? How does our health department actually enforce any rule at all?” Lucas said. “So, while I respect many of the jurisdictions that are trying to, I think, really have adherence to the CDC (guidance), it’s a challenge for us.”