118 Comments

always grateful for your sensible views on this nonsense. i have friends who will mask forever, even driving alone in their cars!

Expand full comment

VP, you ask: "Have you walked around America?" Please keep it in the U.S...that's what you mean, anyway, isn't it?

I want to show off my lipstick, but, with most people shedding, and new viruses...

Expand full comment

I love your logic!!

Expand full comment

Thank you for Sensible Medicine Dr. Prasad. I do find it interesting that we have continued mask mandates. I’m in Italy visiting right now and hardly anyone, except one one transit bus and Lufthansa airlines required a mask. All but one or two Americans on a group of 40 wears a mask on the tour bus.

When I return to work at a specific government ran hospital system, I will still be asked to wear a mask EVERYWHERE in the hospital. We only just stopped having screeners at the two entrances to the hospital….mamma mia!

Expand full comment

Masks are gone in grocery stores in everywhere in the world, except Portland, OR. My aunt from SEATTLE (very pro mask city for all things during Covid) was shocked this weekend to see how many masks were in Safeway in Beaverton this weekend. I just don’t understand why so many here are still doing it.

Expand full comment

Much of our communication is non-verbal. It's frightening to visit a doctor and not be able to see his/her face and miss so much of the message. Likewise, having that practitioner unable to see my non-verbal response means they may well not understand my concerns. Masking is detrimental to our health. It's made me wary of seeking medical care for anything but acute problems. So wrong that the medical profession doesn't get it.

Expand full comment

I would be interested in Vinay's analysis of any studies regarding harm to healthcare workers required to wear surgical masks 8 hours a day. Our office provides us one mask per day. Apparently there is a chemical in them that may be dislodged, inhaled and harmful after prolonged use.

Expand full comment

It's a real nightmare for hearing impaired people. My wife can't go in hospitals alone anymore.

Expand full comment

Thank you so much Dr. Prasad for writing this. Those who don’t work in hospitals should realize that there are carts outside of patients’ rooms with PPE that is specific to the precautions necessary for the patient in the room (if any). I can’t tell you how completely maddening it is to have to take off the useless surgical mask that I am wearing for optics, to put on an n95, and head to toe PPE to walk into a covid + room. In fact, once you walk into that room, you can’t leave until you take off all of your PPE in a separate space, or you would be contaminating the outside area (I got kicked off of Twitter permanently a month ago for stating that). Hospital staff goes to an hour “n95 class” taught by an industrial hygienist. Yet, we are all going along with the charade. And honestly, a lot of staff don’t have the brain cells to figure out how idiotic this all is.

Expand full comment

I’m in a four doctor practice outpatient internal medicine in Florida . We are part of a 40 doctor primary care independent group. We stopped seeing patients in person March 2020 until we got PPE first weekend in May. Started seeing patients in full PPE and virtually until December 2020. Based my review of the two studies for MRNA vaccines , got vaccinated December 2020. (Approved on a Friday , vaccinated on a Tuesday. ). After discussion with each of my employees got 20 out of 21 vaccinated. Everyone done by end of January. Only one refused and left . Switched to mainly to in person. , got boosted during Delta. Got Omicron in December 2021, flu like symptoms for 4 days. Stopped masking based on best evidence after Jan 1 2022. Lost no employees to COVID, the patients I lost were mostly unvaccinated. I thank you and Dr Demania for guiding me through . Time to move on to other non COVID pressing topics please 😷

Expand full comment

We are stuck because of CDC and regular CMS visits to the hospital that look into absolutely every policy regardless of the reason for their visit. And we are waiting on JCAHO, so no way anyone is taking a mask off before they show up for their several day dig. It is tiresome and hard to police and the staff are constantly complaining. Wouldn't it be nice if this would end? There are days when we all feel like we won't ever be mask-free again in healthcare - let's all pray that is not the case!

Expand full comment

Chronicle article yesterday could only find UCSF staff who don’t agree. They need to have a Medical Grand Rounds where you and Bob Wachter can present your cases.

Expand full comment

This is capitulation to a readership that elevates you because of your support for a political and ideological purity test with respect to masking.

Masks are a valuable public health tool situationally, and part of the solution to 15k+ monthly deaths in the US.

You are a heme-onc doctor? The majority of the patients in your waiting room, and then your tiny exam room, are high risk and will suffer covid sequelae, serious illness, maybe worse with your turtle-sparing mask plans this fall and winter. Read Jetelina. Make less profitable pronouncements, and more evidence based uncomfortable truths. How about 83% reduction in covid transmission with n95s? A good start towards CME:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm

Expand full comment

I have to remove my surgical mask to put on a respirator, goggles, etc to go into covid + room. Surgical masks don’t stop aerosolized virus; all they do is block droplets. Yeah, if someone is coughing or sneezing it will block the droplets but moisture will break down the mask quickly and it needs to be changed. Maybe good for 20 min. Breath/aerosols still shoot out the gaps or thru the mask. Masks also make you touch face more. Ive had several patients pull them down to sneeze or wear completely filthy ones. They touch them constantly, then everything else.

Expand full comment

N95s properly fitted work. I was professionally Fit tested by an industrial hygienist. He said that if you touch it, you have to change it. When I wear PPE in a covid positive room I have to remove it before exiting so I don’t cross contaminate anything on the floor. In addition to n95 I also have to wear goggles, gown, cap and gloves.

Expand full comment

Me too, with the Covid in-office care we provide in an isolated, filtered room away from other patients. Having multiple shots in my system, and the protection that PPE provides, even if not perfect, quality masking reduces the number of viral particles we are exposed to initially, which seems to make a big difference in whether our immune systems can quickly overwhelm an insurrection of thousands, or a mass invasion of billions.

Expand full comment

Preach. I work in the ER and it's long overdue to stop masking all patients, visitors, and staff. Do what we used to do for flu etc.

Expand full comment

I stayed 24/7 w my daughter while she was in hospital and I had to wear a mask 24/7 even when I tried sleeping! I took it off when no nurses/drs were around and when my daughter was up for it we went for strolls outside on the grounds and stayed outdoors as long as possible. Thank god they didn’t make her wear one 24/7 in room but they did me. Crazy!

Expand full comment

It’s ridiculous in the hospital. We are doing ICU rounds and the intensivist has his mask pulled down to his neck most of the round. Nurses same when they’re drinking from their water bottles in unit. I see doctors walking down the halls without them. I’ve started doing same for shit periods while I’m sitting in units. It’s going to take the majority to stop the nonsense

Expand full comment

We just had a site visit from the state and we were cited for not masking everywhere in the building. We also had to purchase and put into place a screening device for all visitors. We had stopped screenings due to their ineffectiveness. So...we’re stuck until the CDC and the government decide to get real.

Expand full comment