sorry blondie, but it is also disrespectful to feign ignorance by pretending that I dont know you were informed .
I personally showed you confessions from the CDC's own reports admitting that they lied to the public about what face coverings were safe, and that people were not only being told ,by them, to use un safe face coverings , but that most people were using them incorrectly that further caused other illnesses that likely quickened the spread of the virus.. some weeks ago.
and here you are still supporting forcing people to mask up. knowing the results of those reports.

so what I said was not based on ignorance of what you know. it' just based on what you seem to choose not to accept after being showed the truth.

it was you and your reactions to information I shared with you. that formed my comments.
and you entered into this topic of conversation willingly.
you keep bring up being a health professional like it is some sort of shield against being wrong.
yours is an opinion like any one else's.
and as I have shown there are a great many health science professionals that dont agree with you. sorry, it is not disrespectful to disagree with you. nor to point out why.
you might not like it, just as I dont like it when it happens to me. but it is the risk we take when we choose to engage in an open forum.

Richard .. this has nothing to do with your opinion. Or the opinion of other people . It has to do with your personal statement about Me ….,surely you understand the difference . You are welcome to comment on my posts but do not ever speak for me.

I have seen no evidence that cdc have lied or admitted to lying .. perhaps post your evidence again .

You have to understand when the pandemic hit very little was known about covid and there are still many unanswered questions . It was not till the second year that aerosol transmission was acknowledged .by the scientific community . As for masks .. you have to consider global supply issues during a pandemic . . Many hospitals struggled to provide PPE (including masks ) during the first two waves of covid . Does your own country manufacture n95’s and how easily could they supply the entire USA population? Are they preparing for that event ?? That is something every country should be planning for . The pandemic has demonstrated how unprepared the world is . Hopefully we learn and use that information wisely . Covid is not yet endemic ..this pandemic is not over .

There have been pandemics , epidemics, plagues ever sense their has been life on earth and nothing will change that. There will always be the next one and we humans always come out a little wiser for that next one. I’ve had both my vacs. and I wore the mask, now I’m done with both. This is something that we have to tend with like the flu or strep throat and many others we would rather not have but I will gamble on it by not wearing another mask ever. This argument about people should or people shouldn’t wear a mask is one of many issues that will have to be solved before reps. and dems. can come together. Less government infringement and more personal freedom of choice and we’d all be better off.

not necessarily wiser Bart .. I read archives on the Spanish influenza pandemic ., the same behaviour and reluctance to wear masks or social distance is distressingly similar .

You can claim to never wear a mask Bart .. but I feel confident if we were faced tomorrow with a new airborne pathogen which was lethal and easily transmitted , not only would you do your best to protect yourself and your loved ones but you would demand protective PPE.

My thoughts on covid is we still do not understand much of what it is capable of or longer term consequences (of having been exposed to a mild/moderate/severe infection ) . A lot of research and surveillance is happening to understand covid mutations and recombinations but we remain vulnerable . In a relatively short time (two years) the virus has evolved to become increasingly efficient at spreading and has developed immune escape characteristics . It is merely a false sense of security to assume that we have control of covid or that it is not capable of evolving to a more dangerous pathogen .

I don’t think we have control of covid any more than we have control of the common cold but I believe with each of the later variants they have been weaker as far as symptoms go. But should there be another new virus it will depend on the severity and how easily it can spread that will make my decision on wearing a mask, not a government mandate. The CDC and the governments over reach have left many doubting their ability to be honest and trustworthy.

omicron has still put healthcare under pressure and caused deaths . Delta is still circulating . We do not know what covid variant or recombinant will develop next . We can not rely on only weaker variants manifesting .

Off with masks and off with bras. Eff the patriarchy!! Our bodies our choice

people with multiple health risks that were all ready verry sick died with omicron. the CDC admitted there are no reported deaths from omicron thus far.
you as a medical professional know the difference between dying with an illness and dying from an illness, I showed you their internal reports on delta also. where they admitted those death counts were also inflated. because in most cases, while they might have had delta,
the direct cause of their deaths was one of their multiple pre existing health conditions. That they were all ready being treated for.

my personal statement was based on our past conversations blondie, , and I was not speaking for you, I was sharing what I knew we had discussed.
you state you have no evidence that the CDC lied (or them admitting to lying) to us about the effectiveness of masking.
but, here try attempt to deflect the current discussion, by using the exact excuse they gave for lying.
to protect the supply of N95 masks availability for the first responders and medical PPE.


to your question: yes,, here in America, we do have manufacturing base for N-95 masks, and when the demand hit, there was a drop off in supply.
but we as a nation quickly responded(so did Canada).
those all ready making them, expanded their manufacturing.
companies that also had similar manufacturing (such as making industrial hepa filters) adapted some of their manufacturing to meet the needs.
in less then 6 months, I could go into most any store and buy multiple styles of N-95 rated masks. that was about the same time the first lock downs here were lifted.

as for my self personally, I had no problems .
because, I had an added advantage, being in the line of work I am in.
I had a stock pile of masks and respirator filters. rated much higher then N 95, for hazmat protection (chemicals biologicals) around the properties. I believe in keeping my emergency supplies well stocked.

something that many of our local hospitals did not do was re stock after the last major flu outbreak. so when covid hit, they were not properly stocked. so they rushed to resupply. and over taxed the existing production base at that time.. but as I said it did not take them long to adapt. and because of the CDC saying that even an open face sheilds or bandana could protect people going out in public. soon the domestic supplies of n-95 masks were verry high. the yet the CDC sat on telling people that they should be wearing N-95 masks for over a year, while also canceling other groups that were trying to get the word out to wear them.
it was not until a couple months ago that the CDC admitted this to the public while encouraging those who are at high risk to now use the N-95 masks. at which time I shared some of the medical communities responses to it. do you remember that??

sorry double posted.

Coming from England, I am somewhat bemused to see that so many things are split down the republican – Democrat line. What has mask wearing (and religion) (and guns) got to do with politics?

From where I sit, it rather looks like the 'republican' position is that masks should not be worn but from the 'democrat' position, they should be worn. Bizarre, or what?

Here in England I believe it is widely accepted by most people that the cheap readily available cotton masks do nothing to protect the wearer from catching Covid from someone else. They do have a limited use in protecting others if the wearer coughs while having Covid. Most people are wearing these cheap masks, they are standard issue if you enter a hospital or your local doctor's premises and it is mandatory to wear one, despite their lack of usefulness.

It's not a matter of whether or not to wear a mask, but a matter of trying to get hold of the superior quality type and wear that only when in any crowd of people. But look at the supporters at any football match these days and it is hard to see anyone with a mask, despite shouting as loud as they can in support of their team! I have never gone to such events and am not missing them now.

Another observation concerns the unexpectedly large number of people who choose not to get vaccinated. Presumably these people go to the doctor if they are not well and presumably they willingly take the prescribed medicine without any worries about the chemical makeup. So why this concern about the Covid vaccine? I'm pleased to say I've had all three vaccines appropriate for my age (friends over 75 have had four) and I am completely safe. To the best of my knowledge I don't have mind controlling drugs or micro chips inserted into me!!!

Another huge part of the issue with masks is the handling of them. So many people will move a mask up and down their face, or take if off and put it back on, or touch it while scratching. This often makes having a mask worse than not having one at all, regardless of quality.


You're talking about the experimental substances that have required changes in the definition of what a vaccine is, to be described as such, yes? Those substances that don't actually vaccinate?


But what you do have is a higher chance of damaged internal organs, with unknown and unknowable long-term side effects effects, no greater protection from Covid than those who didn't take the substances, and an ever greater chance of dying with every shot you take.

Oh, and no protection for other people since you can still carry and transmit the virus even with one of these 'vaccines' in you. No, you are not completely safe. You have been deluded.

I know nothing of experimental substances that have required changes in the definition of a vaccine. I fully asccept the English Health Service and the vaccines they offer after trials of ten thousand or more people. I do not subscribe to the ludicrous scare stories perpetuated by those who read something on facebook and choose to believe it without any evidence whatsoever. My philosophy in life is based around evidence based science. I accept there might be long-term and as yet unknown side effects but that possibility is very far from a reason to not be vaccinated. A bit like not buying a car because quite a lot of people are killed each year in car accidents!

So who is deluding me? Nobody I assure you!

You are old and the benefits of "vaccination" out weigh the risks, however for a child that has their whole life in front of them the risks of the vaccine is a big gamble. You say "there might be long-term and as of yet unknown side affects". Should a child and/or their parents, or the government be willing to gamble on this? Would you be willing to throw a child under a bus just to save your life? The vaccine does not appear to stop the spread of covid, in fact it may actually contribute to the spread of covid as many vaccinated people have fewer or no symptoms, or they figure they are vaccinated so they don't care if they spread it around. People have started to have "natural immunities" to covid as our bodies learn what to look for and how to deal with it. For a child in the US they are more likely to die from a gun shot, commit suicide, or die in a car accident. It would make more sense to focus our time and resources on these matters for children and let nature (covid) take it coarse on old people.

OK, then you don't know what you are talking about and have not looked into the situation. Than being the case, the you are partaking in your own mistaken knowledge.


Good for you. I have looked into those trials, I have examined the statistical evidence (which is the most important part of the science on an issue of vaccination), and I have read up on the documents which people like Pfizer have been forced by US Courts to reveal.


Excellent. Do you make any effort at all to determine the difference between those scare stories that are lies and those that are factual?


But you are not following the science: you have made that clear. You are following propaganda.


And the science behind this statement is what? It is a statement of ignorance, based on faith.


Now I know that one of the people deluding you is you, yourself. I sincerely hope you are not doing yourself or the rest of us any greater harm than partaking in the economic damage that the government is (has been) inflicting upon us.

I think with respect it is you whose beliefs are based on faith, certainly not me.

You said " I do not subscribe to the ludicrous scare stories perpetuated by those who read something on facebook and choose to believe it without any evidence whatsoever" and I couldn't agree more with that statement.

You go one to say " My philosophy in life is based around evidence based science" and I also agree with that statement.

But the problem is that government funded "medical experts" and politicians were using scare tactics to implement totalitarian like regulations that WEREN'T based on "evidence based science". Forcing children to wear masks that aren't KN95 or N95 is useless. Unless someone is wearing a N95 or KN95 face mask PROPERLY wearing a mask isn't very protective.....and those mask AREN'T required. There are studies that show evidence that children wearing masks in schools is more harmful than not wearing masks yet they are still being mandated by school districts in the United States.

If you want to live your life "around evidence based science" some ACTUAL research on your part is needed because JUST listening to talking point from government funded "medical experts" and politicians isn't following the science.

From a University of Waterloo study:

N95 or KN95 face masks may be the best way to avoid COVID-19 during crowded indoor events. That’s the recommendation from a new study reporting most cloth masks just don’t do the job when it comes to stopping the spread of coronavirus within enclosed spaces.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo simulated a person breathing in a large room with a cloth face mask on. Despite wearing a cloth mask, the study finds a large buildup of aerosol droplets suspended in the air.
----------------

I quite agree about cloth 'masks' but I think the reason for wearing them isn't medical, it is to be seen as a reminder that the virus, although mutated, has not gone away. As such it might persuade people not wearing one at all to put one on, especially if they have strayed into an area where they are required. It's more subtle than whether or not wearing a mask 'does' anything for your health.

Our government here in the UK has decided they can no longer afford the furlough payments to people told to stay at home so they have removed all legal requirements to wear a mask of some sort. It is now up to individuals, but getting hold of the good quality masks is not that easy! Only in some places, hospitals for example, are the owners of the property making their own rules.

Ofc you don't & neither do i or anyone else for that matter.
It's cause because we had a president who for the longest time, talked down the virus, said it was nothing & masks are stupid.

Then later told us he changed his mind & get vaxed. Then he gets booed at his rallys for saying it.

Only his base believe anything he says & they happen to be Republicans. That's where politics was inserted.
Us against them in our own country & we all want the same, to live through this & the next virus that comes along.