The End of Mask Mandates Fails the Youngest and Most Vulnerable

February 9, 2022–

Weeks after the Biden Administration rolled out a plan to provide Americans with free N-95 masks, a key method of protecting our communities from spreading and becoming infected with COVID-19, many states are removing mask mandates. This week, states including New Jersey, California, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon said they would end at least some mask mandates. These decisions are being made even as an entire segment of the population–children under 5–does not have access to COVID-19 vaccines. Eliminating or reducing mask mandates is a step backward and especially endangers the youngest and most vulnerable among us.

“Throughout this pandemic, it has become abundantly clear that children and those most vulnerable, including the medically fragile, frontline workers, people of color, and families struggling financially, are consistently ignored and neglected,” said Tamara Lea Spira, co-founder of Protect Their Future. “This is, at its core, an equity issue. It is unconscionable that we are removing mask mandates–an effective method of protection that is critical during a pandemic–and risking the lives and livelihoods of those who have no choice or protection. We need our leaders to stand on the right side of history and protect all of our communities. No one is expendable.”

Protect Their Future calls on health officials and leaders to put children first and support mask mandates. Hundreds of children under 5 have succumbed to COVID-19, and thousands more have suffered from complications of Covid including acute respiratory illness, MIS-C, long Covid, type 1 diabetes, post Covid encephalitis and neurological effects. In January 2022 alone, 3.5 million children tested positive for Covid, and with the removal of masks and still no vaccines for our children, the future remains grim. Children under 5 are once again being neglected and forced to suffer the consequences of public health policies that actively turn a blind eye to their needs.

Masks have proven to be an effective and affordable means of preventing infection, and they have been an important part of mitigation measures that have allowed schools, restaurants, and businesses to remain open. Dropping mask mandates now risks the health of our most vulnerable populations and undermines the many sacrifices that we have all made to pull through the current surge.

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