Exit stage left. One of the strangest quirks of California culture these past few months was the expectation healthy young people should vaccinate while vaccinations for healthy young people were not legal. It was a bizarre dance: civic pride in high vaccination rates that technically should not have been possible, with concurrently the impassioned, outspoken affirmation that waiting in line for “those who most need the vaccine” was a non-negotiable, moral imperative. We had to keep our least safe safe, and there I found myself in agreement. But throughout March, Bay Area vaccination appointments were abundant, and by April anyone especially at-risk from Covid-19 had been afforded many months of access to the shot. At that point, any mass delusion that our elderly, sick, and front-line workers required the general population to “wait their turn” would have been odd enough, as the vaccines were no longer especially scarce. But did any such delusion exist? Generally, it seemed, we all understood “sacrifice” in waiting was not only unnecessary but dangerous. Reasonable people therefore circumvented the rule and encouraged their friends and family members to do the same. This drove the population toward herd immunity, which was and remains the only conceivably “moral” public health action. The public knew the government was wrong, as evidenced by the public’s actions, and the government knew we knew the government was wrong, as evidenced by the government’s public approval of the vaccination rates. Yet what the public performed, mostly on social media, was agreement with government policy that, if followed to the letter, would have resulted in considerable and entirely unnecessary death — which we in part avoided by breaking the rules. Welcome to the world of safety porn, supported by “science,” mainlined by our censorious social media, and taken seriously by no one. It’s the performance of public health, untethered from reason or coherent strategy, and the dynamic is multi-faceted.

There has never been evidence supporting the notion we should mask outside, and policy last summer that led to the shutdown of beaches and parks was almost certainly unhealthy. There is no evidence supporting the notion outdoor dining presents a meaningful public health risk, though I should note there’s quite a bit of evidence concerning the economic impact of shutting down an entire stratum of small business — which has been disastrous. In Portland, masks are about to become indefinitely the law of the land, vaccinations be damned. And up in Canada? Camping is canceled. We all know these policies are unhelpful at best, but on the topic of Masks Forever we find perhaps the worst incarnation of safety porn to date, as it threatens real recovery. Once fully-vaccinated by a double-shot of Pfizer or Moderna, are you at meaningful risk of contracting Covid-19? No, of course not, you’re vaccinated. Once fully-vaccinated by a double-shot of Pfizer or Moderna, are you at meaningful risk of passing Covid-19 on to other people? Also no, of course not, you’re vaccinated. Nonetheless, the Discourse persists:

From The New York Times: “Plan to ditch the mask after vaccination? Not so fast.” From The Washington Post: “Congrats on the vaccination. You still need to keep your mask up.” From CNN: “After you’re vaccinated, it’s critical to keep masking up in some places (for now).” In a recent MSNBC interview with Dr. Fauci, Joy Reid (who herself double masks after vaccination) hysterically implored her audience of millions to keep their masks on after getting their shots, at the risk of mortal peril. Essentially, what we’re looking at here is an anti-vax position from the “believe science” crowd, and what amounts to dangerous misinformation about the virus.