In May 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a significant change in its COVID-19 mask mandated policy. Namely, the CDC enunciated that fully vaccinated persons “can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” Besides encouraging fully vaccinated individuals to resume activities “prior to the pandemic,” the guideline will likely reduce tensions among proponents and opponents of COVID-19 related mask wearing that has gripped American society. Yet, it is improbable the discord surrounding mask wearing—aggravated by politicians, pundits, social media, fringe groups, politically active individuals, and others—will dissipate completely. This is so despite research demonstrating that mask wearing “has been a valuable tool in the fight against COVID-19, helping to keep people from spreading germs and protecting others from inhaling them.” Isolated incidents of violent crimes arising from enforcement of masking measures are likewise problematic.
As of the third week of May 2021, 24 U.S. states and territories had mask mandates. In July 2020, 27 U.S. states had such measures. Mask mandates differ: some “require a face covering anytime an individual leaves his or her residence, while others provide detailed instructions for where masks must be worn.” A May 28, 2021, NBC News report differentiated state mandates along three lines: 21 states with no mask mandates, 19 states requiring masks “in some or all situations for vaccinated and unvaccinated people,” and 10 necessitating masks “in some or all situations for unvaccinated people.” As some businesses and other employers will not require workers and customers to prove they have been vaccinated before entering a premises, the mask-vaccination conundrum will rest, in part, on an honor system, which is inherently subject to abuse. For a time, some businesses, including fast food establishments, side-stepped the dilemma of enforcing mask wearing by in-person customers by offering only drive-thru services. Also, in selected areas of the country, business and retail workers have expressed their concern over the removal of mask mandates as they perceive some unvaccinated customers will go forego mask, raising the risk of exposure to COVID-19.