Why some continue to use the mask if they have the option not to

By Elizabeth Chuck - NBC News

When federal health officials recently announced that fully vaccinated people would no longer have to wear masks in most cases, Jaz Johnson was one of the people who didn't give up on theirs.

Johnson, who resides in Kansas City, Missouri, has received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but does not want to do without the mask.

Over the past year, this 46-year-old woman claims to have avoided the colds and flu that she normally gets.

The same has happened with his 95-year-old grandmother, with whom he lives.

In addition to helping her and her family stay healthy,

the masks have provided Johnson with something else: the opportunity to hide certain emotions

, such as discomfort when someone is too close to her in line to pay or boredom when a family member tells the same story for the tenth time.

"I'm one of those people who can't lie," says Johnson, who works in the information technology industry.

"It's a lot of fun now that no one necessarily knows what I'm really thinking."

As orders to wear masks are lifted across the country, many people are finding that they feel comfortable covering their faces, and not just for health reasons.

Even with the ability to do without them, some people continue to use them.

And they cite a multitude of reasons: no one can tell them to smile when they don't feel like it, it saves many from having to wear makeup, and it gives others a degree of anonymity.

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"It's exhausting having to put on this smiling face, so calm and confident," says Cassidy, 35, who resides in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and who asked to be identified by her first name for privacy reasons.

Cassidy, a Navy veteran, has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and agoraphobia.

He says the masks feel like a "shield" that prevents him from having awkward interactions while running errands: "I can absorb the environment in a much more controlled way without having to think about what my face is doing, or having to think someone see my face. "

Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still state the use of masks for those who have not received the vaccine.

For those who are vaccinated, they are required only in specific situations, such as on public transportation.

"Psychological feeling of relief"

Baruch Fischhoff, a Carnegie Mellon University scholar specializing in decision-making processes, says that, at this point in the pandemic, with just over 39% of the country fully vaccinated, there is a combination of factors at play to explain why why vaccinated people can still choose to wear masks.

These factors include: to

express solidarity with those who cannot be vaccinated, including young children

, and to let others know that there is still concern about protecting yourself and others.

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Confusion or ambivalence about whether this is the right time to remove the masks is understandable, explains Fischhoff.

Some people may have felt instant comfort after receiving their vaccinations, while others may not believe they are protected even after immunization.

"I think the psychological sense of relief comes into play here, something that manifests itself at different rates for different people," says Fischhoff.

A sensitive social issue

Masks have consistently been one of the pandemic's most divisive problems, and those still wearing theirs have received mixed reactions.

Felipe, 32, who works in business administration for a small home health services company in central Florida, and who asked to be identified by name only for privacy, recently found himself at the center of a maelstrom in social media for what he considered a harmless tweet.

“Let's normalize the use of masks in the case of people who have some type of cold / flu symptoms.

Forever.

It has been nice not having a cold in over a year, ”she wrote.

The tweet went viral and garnered more than 416,000 likes.

But it also attracted criticism.

Some people argued that he was undermining his individual freedom, others called him crazy and others asked to be beaten.

"I'm not saying it should be a law or a requirement," says Felipe.

“It is an altruistic thought: to take care of our neighbors, the community, the family.

We can take a small step that is not really a big inconvenience, to help them. "

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Others feel the same.

Jason Cavallaro, 42, a primatologist who resides in Southwest Louisiana, still wears his mask in most places, but believes that at some point he will become someone who wears it depending on the situations: mostly when sitting sick and have to go out.

"I think at no time in history have people been more aware of their own germs than now," he says.

[Moderna assures that its vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and effective in children between 12 and 17 years old]

This line of thinking is supported by many public health experts.

Drs Valerie Parkas and Beverly Forsyth, associate professors of medicine and infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, wrote an op-ed this month in the New York Daily News calling on people not to get rid of the masks yet. 

In addition to when someone is feeling ill and interacting with others, masks, they argued, should be used whenever any type of pathogen is circulating at high levels in a community.

"There may be times when public health authorities recommend using them indoors, crowded places, indoors, because

flu

activity

is so high right now,

" says Parkas.

Masks forever?

What science says

The public health benefits of the mask combined with social distancing were striking last year.

Flu deaths in the United States, typically tens of thousands a year, were significantly lower.

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But while experts see a place for masks in the future, most do not believe that everyone should wear them all the time.

"We are not in favor of people wearing masks forever or in all situations," says Parkas.

“A feeling of dependency will likely have a negative impact on mental health

.

We all need to face each other, be social people, and see friends and family.

We have to hug. "

However, there is no evidence that wearing a mask long-term weakens the immune system in any way, or causes other problems, says Dr. Benjamin Singer, an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"There is almost no other problem than the social pressure that there may be," he adds.

"If a person wants to wear a mask, that's fine."

Some people in the US say they will continue to use the masks to protect themselves from conditions not necessarily related to COVID-19.

Singer says face masks undoubtedly played a role in reducing the spread of disease last year, but he also pointed to the protection offered by vaccines against COVID-19.

While some people claim they still wear masks because they fear coronavirus variants, Singer cautions that has not proven to be a concern at this time.

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"Vaccines are incredibly protective against all known variants, although we must be vigilant about what is happening," he says.

The evidence collected so far is not enough to convince some to remove their masks, although others are already doing so.

Cavallaro, the primatologist from Louisiana, wants everyone to keep wearing their masks.

But he knows that it will be difficult to achieve.

“You feel like a 'Mortal Kombat' character every day

.

That has to be worth something, ”he jokes.

"When was the last time we smelled someone's bad breath? More than a year, right? Everyone chooses what interests them the most."