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Comment by dheera | Hacker News Reader

When scientific evidence about a possible low-cost preventative measure is mixed, the upside would be saved lives, and there is virtually no downside to using that preventative measure, the scientifically best thing to do would be to temporarily use that preventative measure until there is better data.

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I wear masks (N95 when I visit my elderly relatives) and am not against them. I plan on wearing masks until I have personally been vaccinated and test positive for antibodies. But not after that.

Where it gets weird is when 30% of people won't take a vaccine in the future, the vaccine is somewhere south of 70% effective, and none of the current phase 3 vaccines are seeking approval for use by children either. So what if COVID-19 sticks around for a while as a result. What if you can't tell who has had a vaccine and who hasn't?

Do you plan on wearing a mask everywhere for the next 5 years long after you've tested positive for antibodies? Because I don't.

I have hope that with so many research resources being directed to the problem, we'll have better vaccines, better cures, OR better management of symptoms so that there isn't a death risk or long term complications, well before 5 years. It really takes only one of the 3 to bring life back to normal.

There are downsides, like when the government threatens violence against its citizens for not complying with a preventative measure with mixed efficacy at best.

What government has threatened violence in regards to mask mandates?

I guess anything that is fined or outlaws is eventually "enforced by violence" but it's still a silly argument. If a store asks you to leave, and you don't, and the store calls the police to arrest you, you aren't being arrested for not wearing a mask. You're being arrested for not leaving when asked.

Do you really think the businesses are enforcing masks for the sake of public health? I encourage you to ask them -- 9 times out of 10 they will say they are fearful of the government fining them and shutting down their business. Trust me, I ask them every time they ask me to leave and it's always the same answer. If they resist the government, it will eventually result in violence.

There are dozens to hundreds of regulations governing the activities of retail establishments.. the requirement to enforce mask mandates is only one.

So are you not wearing a mask? If not, why not?

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