Face Masks: Science v. Politics

As Democratic governors ditch mask mandates, CNN is attempting to rewrite history in ways that cover for the harm caused by those politicians, the CDC, the media, and big tech.

SOURCES:

Transcript of 2/7/22 CNN broadcast in which Dr. Leana Wen claimed that the science on masks has changed: https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/acd/date/2022-02-07/segment/01

Wen stated in late December 2021 that “cloth masks are little more than facial decorations” and “scientists and public health officials have been saying” this “for months, many months.” https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/24/health/cloth-mask-omicron-variant-wellness/index.html

A broad array of studies conducted before and early during the Covid-19 pandemic found no evidence that cloth masks control the spread of contagious respiratory diseases, even for the flu, which is far less contagious than Covid-19:
https://www.justfacts.com/document/mitigating_risk_impact_influenza_who_2019.pdf#page=26
https://peerj.com/articles/7142/
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
https://peerj.com/articles/7142/
https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/54/7/789/202744
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1471-2334-14-480
https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/27/2/taaa021/5735319

Before and during the C-19 pandemic, science journals reported that masks interfere with bonding and communication:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196655308009097
https://hearingreview.com/hearing-loss/health-wellness/how-do-medical-masks-degrade-speech-reception
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669432/full
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-laryngology-and-otology/article/effects-of-n95-mask-and-face-shield-on-speech-perception-among-healthcare-workers-in-the-coronavirus-disease-2019-pandemic-scenario/83DE0D454255C304D15F2B6AFAF0C965

Bonding and communication are essential to mental health, physical health, and education:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17571472.2015.1133012
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2006.1941

Science journals have documented that masks and the CO2 levels in them cause headaches, cardio-pulmonary stress, and cognitive impairment:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196655308009097
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/56/2/107.info
https://aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-20-07-covid-0403
https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.1104789

Dr. Leana Wen claimed in July 2020 that “there are no health effects to wearing” masks: https://www.msnbc.com/know-your-value/dr-leana-wen-5-ways-convince-skeptical-loved-one-wear-n1234596

Studies on vaccines and Omicron are sparse and uncertain due to small datasets, a lack of peer-review, and the absence of “gold standard” randomized controlled trials because vaccine manufacturers terminated them early against the advice of government regulatory agencies:
https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2021/08/08/bmjebm-2021-111735
https://www.icmra.info/drupal/covid-19/statement_on_continuation_of_vaccine_trials
https://www.justfactsdaily.com/omicron-delta-naturally-acquired-immunity-vaccines#omicron

Studies have found that Covid-19 vaccines are far less effective against Omicron than earlier variants that dominated while mask mandates were in full swing: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8669855/
https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-provide-update-omicron-variant

A nationwide study conducted in Denmark found that vaccine protection against Omicron “declines rapidly” and by 4 to 5 months after vaccination, unvaccinated people are are less likely to catch Omicron than fully vaccinated people: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.20.21267966v3.full.pdf

In January 2021, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study of all 1.9 million Swedish children who attended school in the spring of 2020 while (1) masks were not required, (2) masks were “rarely used,” and (3) Covid-19 vaccines were not available. The study found that “no child with Covid-19 died” and that teachers were admitted to an ICU with C-19 at half the rate of other professions: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2026670

The CDC ignored the studies above and dozens more with similar results while telling the public that cloth masks are highly effective at controlling the spread of Covid-19. Government officials, politicians, media outlets, and big tech parroted those unscientific assertions: https://www.justfacts.com/news_face_masks_deadly_falsehoods