Mask mandates have been in effect in Illinois since yesterday and it seems that more people are not wearing it this time around.
I live in Cook county, the county where Chicago is located, and if anyone lives in Cook county knows that the mask mandate has been in place since last week. I’ve been grocery shopping a lot in the past week and I’ve noticed that more people are not wearing masks this time around. When the mask mandate was first rolled in place last year, mostly everyone wore them, and there were a few that didn’t wear them. There were a few instances where if someone didn’t wear a mask, a customer or an employee would confront them about it. Lots of stores enforced them (and some in an aggressive manner). But this time around, most of the stores I’ve been to have not enforced them. No one’s even been confronted for not wearing a mask. And all of this is based on my observation.
What changed? Why is it that a lot of stores are not enforcing the mask mandate and why are more people not wearing it this time around? Perhaps because people believed that if they were to get vaccinated against covid-19, they were able to return to a normal mask-free life? They thought that the vaccine would mark the end of the pandemic. If 70% of the US population were to get at least one dose of the vaccine, they would be able to reach herd immunity and a return to a normal life, as Joe Biden had stated. Earlier in August, the US had it reached its 70% goal, one month late. Everyone thought that life would be back to normal. And now, parts of the country are bringing back mask mandates. Cases and now breakthrough cases (vaccinated people who have been tested positive for covid-19) are on the rise. People who have been vaccinated were hoodwinked. There are those who are upset that mask mandates are back. And then are those who’ve had enough with the government’s inconsistencies on this pandemic and stopped following their arbitrary restrictions.
What will it take for life to be fully back to normal? Do cases need to dropped? Does every single person in the United States need to be vaccinated (which is never going to happen)? Do people need to take a 3rd shot (booster)? Or will it take an entire population to stop following mandates and restrictions for this pandemic to end?