Rolling Stone Wants You Wearing N95 Masks Forever
You'd be forgiven if, in late February 2024, you'd assumed that the media would have given up on pushing for people to wear masks. Especially after years of scientific evidence and data have confirmed that masks don't work.
But that would require them to admit they were wrong while moving on from a failed policy championed by their political allies.
Rolling Stone is out this week, yes literally this week, with a new article designed to educate and instruct its readers, not on the fact that it's OK to put their ineffective masks away, but on which version of an N95 mask they should be wearing each day. It's…well, it's somehow even worse than it sounds.
"THOUGH MASK RESTRICTIONS have eased across the country (and around the world)," it starts, "Officials say you shouldn’t be taking off your masks just yet, especially if you’re in crowded places or traveling."
Ah yes, the unnamed "officials," those whose opinions and values should be put ahead of reason, common sense and evidence, because they are "officials." Never mind that those same "officials" initially told the public that they could use a rolled up t-shirt as a "face covering." Then told the public to wear a cloth mask. Then two cloth masks. Then a surgical mask. And THEN an N95 mask. Getting progressively more aggressive as their previous mandates and recommendations spectacularly failed.
That's the authority to which Rolling Stone is appealing to, with no sense of awareness or shame. Just blind religious faith in failed politically-aligned institutions.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 11: Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, answers questions at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2022 in Washington, D.C. The committee will hear testimony about the federal response to COVID-19 and new, emerging variants. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
Even The Vaccines And Boosters Can't Save You From Masks
The Rolling Stone article continues with a dire warning: even your vaccines and boosters aren't enough to save you now.
"Even if you have received your vaccine and booster, medical experts continue to promote the wearing of face coverings as an effective way to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the new JN.1 variant, measles, and other potentially harmful viruses in the air"
This was the inevitable conclusion of the great COVID mask panic - goalpost moving from "just wear one for a few weeks to stop the virus" to "wear one forever to stop measles and other potentially harmful viruses in the air." There is no evidence that masks stop measles transmission, nor any respiratory virus for that matter. Masks do not stop airborne viruses, and measles, flu and COVID can and are transmitted through airborne aerosols.
This advice, telling people that unnamed "medical experts" continue to recommend face coverings to stop transmission of viruses they cannot stop, could quite literally put at risk individuals at greater risk of harm. By leading them to believe they're protected when they're not, immunocompromised people like Taylor Lorenz may engage in riskier behavior than they otherwise should. Although when you're dealing with a media that writes an advice column on how to avoid an unavoidable endemic respiratory virus, expecting logical consistency is a bridge that's way, way too far.
And they weren't done with the harmful misinformation yet.
Misinformation Media At It Again
The article continues by inaccurately stating that "Covid infections" are "rising again."
"And while airlines and the FAA have removed guidelines mandating the wearing of face masks in-flight, many travelers are still keeping their masks on when sharing air with hundreds of passengers for hours at a time. With Covid infections rising again, some states have also started debating recommending masks again, especially for indoor dining and entertainment."
Except, of course, all the available data shows the exact opposite. Hospitalizations in the United States have fallen substantially from an already small winter peak. And that's a lagging indicator, meaning infections had started falling nearly two months before the article was written.
Outstanding work, as always, by our fearless media in informing the public.
Beyond obvious factual mistakes though, the article attempts to quote other "experts" extolling the supposed advantages of N95 masks over the cloth and surgical masks they previously recommended and mandated.
"N95 fit offers advantages over a loose-fitting surgical mask by eliminating leakage around the mask," a report quoted by Rolling Stone claims.
Except that's not actually true.
Only fit tested N95 masks eliminate leakage, and not even always then if not used properly. N95 masks purchased for $1 at the grocery store have no fit advantages over any other type of mask, which is why the available high quality reviews repeatedly show that there's no evidence N95's are more effective at reducing transmission of respiratory viruses.
Not to mention that countries like Austria and Germany tried mandating N95 level masks during the pandemic, only to see them prove completely ineffective.
Masks Don't Work
Masks don't work. There is not one piece of available data that shows masks are effective at stopping the spread of respiratory viruses. Not one.
The "experts" were wrong, and the media ate it up because it fulfilled their need to be viewed as morally superior to their political opponents. They've spread misinformation, and often purposeful disinformation, at the behest of their partners; those same unnamed "officials" Rolling Stone appeals to.
They've caused incalculable damage to society and to the public, leading to permanent, life-altering changes for millions of people around the world. They can't even get basic, inarguable facts down correctly. And they're never going to stop.