So the pandemic is almost over. Once the vaccines become widely available, the number of infections and deaths will begin to drop, and we can all start going to ballgames and concerts again, right?
Not without social distancing, we’ll be told. And put on your damn mask, clown!
History tells us that the government has never relinquished a means of control over the people voluntarily. And since the count of infected individuals will never drop to zero, health bureaucrats will have a perpetual excuse to maintain the mandate for wearing a mask far into the future.
Despite some good news that vaccines could begin to be available to some Pennsylvanians as soon as next month, we should expect some level of public health mitigation measures — including wearing masks — to be in place for another year, officials said.
Speaking during a news briefing Thursday, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine said she expects masks will be necessary “well into” 2021. “Maybe until the end of 2021.”
This assumes that the vast majority of people will rush out to get vaccinated once it becomes widely available. But reality doesn’t work like that. While a solid majority will welcome a vaccine, there will be plenty of resistance — and not just by anti-vax people and conspiracy nuts. Some will make a rational choice not to get vaccinated, either because of feared side effects or a disbelief in the system that created it.
“We are in for a very challenging time, which is why we are talking about containment and mitigation,” Levine said. “We anticipate again that will be rolling this out through winter, and then the spring, and into the summer.”
She noted: “it could take a significant amount of time to immunize everyone in Pennsylvania.”
It will be quite a while before virtually everyone is vaccinated. Many won’t bother until it becomes necessary. Schools will be the first place a vaccine mandate will be used. Perhaps you won’t be getting a driver’s license without being vaccinated. There are other pressure points a state can use to force you to become vaccinated.
But it will be a slow process. Meanwhile, people will still be testing positive, getting sick, and dying of COVID. And health bureaucrats will maintain mask mandates far into the future. They may not be enforceable, but you can bet there will still be zealots demanding you put your mask on and criticizing you for not wearing one.
Congress will probably have to pass a law outlawing mask mandates at the state level. Otherwise, there would be no end to it.
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