‘Ultra-Maskers’ Are Going To Keep Wearing Masks Even After Getting Fully-Vaccinated

While many of us are thinking of returning to our normal lives once the pandemic is over, some people are actually determined to keep wearing masks. And no, this is not about those women who revealed they’re using face coverings as an “invisibility cloak.”

Apparently, some so-called “ultra-maskers” are planning to maintain their masks even after they get vaccinated – or even beyond the pandemic.

Case in point, 53-year-old Adrienne Lenhoff has already received two doses of Moderna. However, she felt worried when she recently took a plane ride from Detroit to Florida. As she got onboard the flight, she realized the plane was packed and passengers are no longer observing social distancing.

“I almost got off the plane,” she said in an interview. “Had I known that I was stepping onto a full flight, I probably would have had a face shield on also.”

Admittedly, Lenhoff does not agree about the CDC’s recent announcement that fully-vaccinated individuals can stop wearing masks on indoor and outdoor gatherings, even when there are unvaccinated people around.

“As restrictions get thrown out the window, or completely relaxed, you don’t know if the person who’s sitting next to you has had their shot or not, where they’ve been, who they’ve been exposed to,” she pointed out. “So even somebody like me who has been vaccinated, there is no guarantee that I’m not going to get COVID.”

Lenhoff likewise added:

“It will be a long time, if ever, before I won’t have a stash of masks in my laptop bag or in my purse.”

And Lenhoff isn’t the only one with that mindset.

Njeri Rutledge, 50, attended a wedding but didn’t feel at ease when none of the guests wore masks. She said:

“I was the only person who walked in with a mask. I felt very uncomfortable.”

Her husband tried assuring her, saying that the CDC has said its okay for vaccinated people not to wear masks but she insisted, “The problem is, I don’t trust the CDC anymore. This is the same CDC who said, ‘You don’t need masks, save them for the doctors.’ So they just don’t have a lot of credibility to me.”

Meanwhile, law student Leah Spingarn, 25, shared:

“I’m a young, healthy person with no pre-existing health conditions. I don’t wear a mask because I’m worried I’m going to die,” she explained. “But I’m very happy to wear one every day that it means someone feels a little more respected.”

She also asked:

“Why aren’t we wearing masks when we know we’re around really, really sick people, and we know that there’s a chance this could just make it better for someone else?”

While her university has announced that masks will no longer be required for vaccinated students and faculty members, she will keep wearing them in the classroom anyway.

“You never know who’s in the room,” said Sipgarn. “When you talk about COVID or you’re making a decision about wearing a mask, you have no idea how that’s hit the person next to you.”