Masks Never Worked
They are Saying It, Without Saying It...
Isn’t it absurd that in 2022 we are still being forced to wear masks in many public places even as many of the most prominent Covid pundits and the media's preferred purveyors of "The Science" are now telling us that cloth masks are basically useless against the new Omicron variant.
Be it CNN's favorite Covid fearmonger Leana Wen:
or Pfizer's #1 salesman Scott Gottlieb:
(Also don't let it go unnoticed that Scott Gottlieb tells a massive lie of omission in this clip with his Covid/Flu comparison in children - Covid remains more benign to children than the flu.)
The consistent message now is that a cloth mask just won't cut it. But please understand, what they are saying, without actually saying it, is that cloth masks, the "most critical intervention", the “parachutes" we all had to wear, which would "end the pandemic"... Never Worked!
Consider this: The excuse now is that Omicron is a game changer, more contagious, spreading way easier than past variants so the masks just won't cut it, but what is actually different about Omicron versus Delta, or past variants? You get the impression the virus is actually smaller or something...
The answer is that a few dozen amino acids on the spike protein have mutated, leading to a slightly different virus. This isn't even a microscopic change, these are minute changes on a molecular level. The changes affect how the virus interacts with our bodies immunologically on the cellular level.
None of the changes in Omicron are of the magnitude which would change how the virus acts physically. Nothing about Omicron will change how virons behave in an aerosol or how they float right around or through a cotton mask. To whatever extent cloth masks were effective at filtering viruses that efficiency is not changed by Omicron.
The truth, being begrudgingly admitted to by these pandemic pundits, is that cloth face coverings and surgical masks were always essentially useless.
So what is actually causing Omicron to spread so fast leading these panic purveyors to try to force us all into N95 respirators?
Based on data from Denmark, which has been testing like crazy and has great data on Omicron, it's less that it's more contagious, and more that it evades prior immunity against infection:
Relative to the Delta variant, the secondary attack rate in unvaccinated households is only 17% higher, yet in vaxxed households the relative difference is over 2.5 times higher and in boosted households higher still. Basically, to a large extent Omicron has broken through prior immunity (both natural and vaccinated) against infection and transmission. As the study states:
" Our findings confirm that the rapid spread of the Omicron VOC (Variant of Concern) primarily can be ascribed to the immune evasiveness rather than an inherent increase in the basic transmissibility."
This finding is backed up by data from Ontario showing that as Omicron takes hold "fully vaccinated" individuals are showing negative efficacy versus the unvaccinated after just 60 days after the second dose and even the boosters show limited efficacy which also likely wanes to zero or lower.
This appearance of negative efficacy could be explained by bais in testing rates, since the vaccinated and boosted tend to test more often than the unvaccinated, but the overall effect is clear. In the present of Omicron, vaccination offers effectively no benefit against infection.
Importantly, both natural and vaccinated immunity still show efficacy against severe outcomes in the face of Omicron, as one would expect given that this is how human immune systems have worked for eternity even if we've forgotten these facts over the last 2 years...
So if masks don't work, and the real issue with Omicron is the vaccine no longer works against transmission at all, then we should expect our Public Health Betters to drop the mask and vaccine mandates, right?...
Of course not. Instead, as always, it's time to double down and mandate boosters and N95's...
Politicians in NYC are pushing for both:
And we are seeing a drumbeat to "upgrade" our masks instead of dropping them, including the absurdity which would be putting children in respirators. Here's a recent NBC Today show clip suggesting to put kids in N95 masks:
This is insanity!
You'll notice in the clip the presenter mentions that N95 masks can be hard to find in kid sizes. There's a reason for that! There literally is no such thing, the government doesn't approve these masks in child sizes so anything you can find on the market is a counterfeit!
Even the California Department of Public Health makes clear N95’s are not intended for use by children:
And yet we are seeing private schools in liberal enclaves starting to mandate N95's for kids:
As stated before, N95's are inappropriate for the public at large.
"As the study shows ( In table III) a KN95 with even a tiny gap (they studied a 3mm gap or about 0.1 inches) is not effective at all! They calculate 3.4% ± 8.9%. Zero!"
"To fit test you must be completely clean shaven, with the proper size respirator fitted with no gaps and pressed tightly against your face. It's immediately uncomfortable and hard to tolerate for even 15 minutes, much less 8 hours. These respirators are not intended for general public use, and you can forget about respirators for kids."
We also have real world data from Germany where the state of Bavaria and city of Berlin issued N95 mandates while their epidemic curves remained in near lock step with the rest of Germany.
Instead of doubling down, what we need now is to return to normal. We need to admit masks don't work, so get rid of them. We need to admit vaccines can't stop transmission so focus on vaccinating and boosting the elderly and unhealthy who need the extra protection instead of mandating them for the healthy. Focus on treating the disease, stop demanding useless sacrifices from the public, and otherwise, it is simply time to move on.
Anyway 0 and 2...