Our grocery store had already taken out the one-way aisle signs, and this time they had also taken down the signs requiring masks. Instead, they had signs saying that people who were unvaccinated were required to wear masks, while fully vaccinated people did not have to. As has been widely noted, doing this on the honor system is beyond ridiculous, and only means that many vaccinated people will still wear masks, while most unvaccinated people will not. I am, as you would no doubt guess from this lead-in, still wearing my mask—not just because my kids aren’t fully vaccinated and other people’s kids can’t be, and not just to protect/respect the employees who might not be cool with this new loosening of rules, but also to make it less awkward for others who still think it’s a good idea to wear masks. I felt like I was getting little Solidarity Vibes from other people wearing masks—like, we were looking at each other and thinking “Ah ha! Another voluntary mask-wearer! How nice!” and then briefly squeezing our eyes at each other.
I had wondered if I would be weirdly jumpy and startled to see people without masks, but it turns out I was not. And in fact, afterward, I had to think: WAS my cashier wearing a mask? I remembered the bagger was not. Apparently I am not going to be as flinchy about that as I’d thought I might be.
I have long understood that it is not necessary/useful to shower after grocery shopping—but I am still doing it that way, because it lets me leave the house just that little bit earlier, which generally means the grocery store is less busy. Also, now we’re getting into warmer weather, and it’s pleasant to take a shower after getting all sweaty lugging groceries, so I will just continue doing it this way for now.
It did not seem to me as if there were any remaining pandemic food/supply shortages—except, weirdly, BREAD, which is still patchy and unpredictable. I can always GET bread, it’s not like they’re totally OUT, but the selection is still poor, and they often don’t have any of our several preferred kinds (none of which are special/niche in any way).
I am switching from the Pandemic Plan of going to the grocery store as infrequently as possible, to a new Fully Vaccinated Plan of going regularly once a week; and I am adding back in the little “Whoops, we’re out of hamburger buns” just-running-in-quick trips.
I am still getting a fair number of things using Target’s curbside service, which is why I can go to the grocery store just once a week (before the pandemic, I was going regularly twice a week). At some point I suppose I will stop doing curbside. I’d actually be ready to stop NOW—but now that I am used to using it, I see the sales that are only valid on pick-up orders, and I don’t want to lose those sales! Well. This week I have to go inside to pick up a prescription, and I am planning to make it at least a PARTIAL browsing trip. My guess is that, while browsing, I will see sales that are not available on pick-up orders, and that might help ease the transition. I think it would feel nice to get Target Browsing back into my life.
So, I’m not trying to troll, honestly, just confused. If the evidence shows not only that one who is vaccinated is protected from the virus, but also does not carry the virus to others, what is the logic for continuing to wear masks even if the vaccinated person lives with some people who aren’t vaccinated? Or is it that the evidence isn’t strong enough to show that vaccinated people don’t carry the virus to others?
If that’s the case, and it very well may be, it begs the question in my mind of when we’ll actually know enough.
For the record, I’m fully vaccinated and continuing to wear a mask as well, but this is something I’m honestly thinking about and wondering how others are thinking about it.
For me, a large part of it is that the vaccines aren’t 100% effective: approximately 10% of us who get the vaccine will not in fact be immune, and CAN catch the virus, and CAN bring it home to others—especially if we are thinking that we’re vaccinated so we don’t have to take other precautions, and if unvaccinated people are also not taking precautions.
One of my kids had blood tests before starting immune-system-suppressing medication, and the test showed that his chicken pox vaccines had not taken. He is still mostly protected anyway, luckily (since for him a chicken pox infection would likely be very serious), because MOST kids get the chicken pox vaccine, so hardly anyone gets chicken pox anymore: herd immunity protects him even when the vaccine didn’t. With Covid-19, we are nowhere near those levels of vaccination.
Ok thanks Swistle, that explanation helps me understand.
Another thing I forgot to mention in my original post, but is part of why I’m still using a mask is the variants. They’re scary as hell, and make me despair that we’re ever getting over this.
Re: “it begs the question of when we’ll know enough”
For me at least, the covid rates in my community also play a role. Right now, the area where I live still has much higher community spread than I am comfortable with. As Swistle said, the vaccines are only some % effective. I personally don’t currently feel comfortable shopping indoors where masks are not required for all (whatever happened to “your mask protects me, my mask protects you”???) with the current covid numbers in my community, but as cases (hopefully) continue to drop I will feel safer.
ah, this makes total sense. I had forgotten about your immuno-comprimised son. Everyone in my family and close friends is vaccinated; I don’t think at this point, that I know anyone who isn’t. So I am only wearing a mask when required. (I am over 60 so it’s a different crowd).
I sometimes get curbside pickup from Target and then end up going inside to get something else and just picking up my curbside order inside. All the sales plus all the browsing.
Still wearing a mask and still ordering Target delivery. Shockingly, I don’t seem to miss the browsing all that much – as I have discovered that I quite enjoy browsing online. The one thing I have noticed is that random items are only available if you go in-store or curbside pick up. I tried to order OxyClean stain remover and was told it wasn’t available for delivery. The Husband thinks it is intentional – in order to get people back in the stores…I doubt that but who knows.
I was repeatedly baffled earlier in the pandemic by not being able to order regular matches for delivery. We could order fancy waterproof matches that were categorized in their system as Camping Equipment instead of Matches/Fire Starters, but absolutely not any of their regular matches, so I assume there were some “is it too flammable for us to want to have it on someone’s porch on a hot day?” restrictions very sloppily imposed to avoid, say, being sued because lighter fluid on a porch set someone’s house on fire on a hot day.
OxyClean stain remover is more baffling unless someone has figured out a way to turn it into a street drug (humans are amazing at this, but I doubt it?).
It IS baffling because in a previous order – they had no problem delivering it.
We’re still in lockdown here, and I’m doing curbside pickup more than ever here. But my kids are getting their first vaccine this Friday, our ability to move up our second dose is coming soon, and some restrictions are being eased in a couple of weeks, so I can finally see things getting better on the horizon. Both kids should be fully vaccinated before school starts, and they’re both enrolled for in-person this fall.
I don’t think there’s a projected date for masks to be done away with yet though.
I would love it if people had decided to keep wearing masks so as to protect those who are immunosuppressed and had a blunted response to the vaccine and those who just plain can’t get the vaccine, but so it goes – at least there are benefits to the hearing-impaired when they can lip-read again, so there’s some Population Benefit to not wearing masks?
Our bread has been, so far as I can tell, back to normal for months now.
Last grocery delivery was the first successful gizzard purchase of the pandemic; I’d been trying for them for literally over a year, but they’d flicker in and out of stock and were always out of stock either at the “you finalize your purchases” point or at the “your picker picks the items” point, except for the one time that they *had* them and they *put them in our order* and then the delivery driver drove off with our order – including frozen items – and the driver went AWOL for over an hour and so they ended up cancelling that order and we reordered everything… but no gizzards were in stock that time – so close and yet so far. (I like chicken gizzards; they are not vitally important, though, so it was just an entertaining “NOOOOO Foiled Again!” moment each grocery trip.)
We’re on Team There Is No Point Prolonging The Pandemic and thus are sticking with masks and social distancing, because yes, it is *far* less necessary now – it’s more of a “knock out a one in ten thousand chance of transmission” than a “knock out a one in 100 chance of transmission” thing – we’d… still like to kick that small but unnecessary risk to the curb, along with whatever variants it might decide to produce (especially since my body seems to hang on to viruses for an abnormally long time – usually 2-3x as long as Spouse is sick with the same bug; and I do not want to be the petri dish that produces the next variant!).
But I also get the “we can see smiles again! Yay!” thing, and also wearing a mask is not pleasant and is undoubtedly more of a burden for some people than others (the sweat; poor fit; nose-pinching; ear-rubbing; etc.). So there is that. But for us: masks, thanks! And continuing to avoid maskless indoor gatherings of people of uncertain vaccination status, generally.
I live in a place where we’re wearing masks until June 15th. I plan on wearing mine indoors in public through the summer. I just went back inside my grocery store for the first time last week and I was on the verge of tears the whole time.
You’re right about the honor system- it won’t work, because so many people have no honor (*gif of Worf from Star Trek*). My main takeaway from the pandemic is that a lot of people are dumber than I hoped they were.
I personally will still be wearing masks in public despite being fully vaccinated for several reasons:
a. my 3 year old is extremely immuno-compromised at the moment; why risk even 1/10,000 chance of exposing him if a mask will help even a tiny bit to reduce that %;
b. 98% of employees in stores around me are still wearing masks, despite the lifted mask mandate in my state, so I have to image they are not thrilled with the prospect of interacting with unvaccinated & unmasked dumbasses, and are taking whatever steps they can, even if imperfect, to continue to protect themselves – so I will mask up around them both in solidarity + continued protection in case I am in the small % of vaccinated people who can still contract/carry the virus asymptomatically;
c. honestly why not, it negatively impacts my life in ZERO WAY and we absolutely HAVE NOT eradicated Covid in the US, so why not continue to take measures to mitigate spread when it takes ZERO EFFORT for me;
d. my young children are both unvaccinated right now; I’m not about to tell them to wear masks in public but not model that behavior myself.
All that said, I have really been enjoying an unmasking in my personal life when interacting with friends again. If I’m seeing vaccinated friends, I am absolutely thrilled to do it unmasked now, with hugs, and with giant happy visible smiles <3
I’m happy to report that here in Boston adjacent place, my usual grocery store was full mask this morning (1 employee, 1 customer had no masks that I noticed, visible noses were about as prevalent as always). It is an immigrant heavy area, which may help.
We’ve had everything for a while, excelt for the occasional random shortage, but that is more store than pandemic. If I’m looking for mint, red chili paste, other random or common ingredients, zero stores in the area will have it until I give up and then it will be everywhere. But we’ve had dish soap and paper towels, etc, for a long time.
Yesterday I had errands to run and it was kind of a game of “Mask or No Mask?”
Kohls – I was vaccinated so I didn’t have to. The staff were but no one else was. (weird) I still did because it feels uncomfortable for me to NOT if the employees still have to.
Farmers Co-Op – Mask required for everyone.
Grocery Store – Mask optional but the distancing and one-way aisles were still a thing. Employees weren’t wearing masks.
As for the actual shopping, I’m sticking with picking it up because of who I am. I have noticed that items that were available all.the.time suddenly aren’t. It feels like they’re trying to force people into the store now. I didn’t want to go in before the pandemic, lol. Stop being extra, grocery store.