No masks? No way! Many Kansas Citians feel unsafe over CDC’s latest COVID guidelines

Once federal officials announced that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need face masks outdoors or in most indoor places, the Hen House supermarket in Prairie Village stopped requiring shoppers to wear them.

But four days later, on Monday afternoon, it was hard to tell: Every shopper in every checkout line was still wearing a mask whether they felt required to or not.

“My feeling is we’ve gotten this far; it’s worked pretty good,” said T. Kelly, 75, wearing a mask outside the store. A former nurse from Overland Park, she has been fully vaccinated. “Do we really need to jump out of it so fast? We still don’t know who’s fully vaccinated and who’s not. It can still spread from somebody to somebody.”

Besides, Kelly said, she has some grandchildren who are too young to receive the shot, at least at this point, and according to recent data, about 37% of Americans are fully vaccinated — meaning almost two-thirds are not.

In Kansas, 36% are fully vaccinated, 32% in Missouri, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Who knows if people without masks might be spreading it?” she said. “There are a lot of unknowns. Why rush it?”

Just as anti-mask skepticism arose last year, now a new cadre has quickly emerged as coronavirus infections are waning: Pro-maskers who — for reasons ranging from concern for others to suspicions over the speed at which the importance of masks has eased — feel reluctant to put them aside.

Brittany Sparrow Savage, 28, of Kansas City works as a children’s coordinator at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral. She takes the bus, where masks are still required. She’s been vaccinated and knows that, according to the new CDC guidelines, she no longer has to wear a mask outdoors. She, nonetheless, walked three blocks downtown with her mask on — not just for her sake, but for others.

“I have no way of knowing who’s been vaccinated or not,” she said. “I work with children. I’m not fully aware of these new strains and how they affect kids. We’re still not in-person, but I want to be as safe as possible, so when we are in-person, I can know that I did everything in my power to keep them safe.”

She sees people crowding into stores and restaurants and is glad that it is her choice whether to wear a mask outdoors. “I’m still cautious. …

“I do trust the vaccination. I feel safe because I have the vaccination. I’m not so sure we have high enough vaccinated persons to willy-nilly take off our masks.”

Why the mask change?

Robert Wiggins, 37, with both HIV and hepatitis C, is immunocompromised.

“I’ve had three friends and two family members die of it,” he said of COVID-19. He lives in a Kansas City clean-and-sober home, which requires him to wear a mask around other residents.

In making its announcement on Thursday, the CDC expressly noted, “At this time, there are limited data on vaccine protection in people who are immunocompromised. People with immunocompromising conditions, including those taking immunosuppressive medications, should discuss the need for personal protective measures after vaccination with their healthcare provider.”

Wiggins said that no matter what his own level of protection, he will continue to wear a mask.

“I want to keep myself and other people safe,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there lying about whether they have gotten a vaccination.…

“I understand that everybody is happy to get back to normal, but I think we need to go at a slower pace, or else we’re just going to end up where we started a year ago.”

Masks, the CDC determined, are still required on airplanes, public transportation and in any place that still opts to require them. Walmart, Costco, Target, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s have all said fully vaccinated customers would no longer be required to wear masks — though none of them said they would require proof of a vaccine. The CDC listed several rationales for easing its mask rules, including:

▪ Vaccines have shown to be effective against COVID-19, including severe disease.

▪ Preliminary evidence suggests that the vaccines may provide some protection against a variety of new variants.

▪ Fully vaccinated people are less likely to have infections and less likely to transmit the virus to others. However, further investigation is ongoing.

Tony Lewis, walking near 18th and Vine streets, said he wears a mask because he’s not sure what to believe or to trust. He knows the virus is real. Age 53, he has not yet received the vaccine because he thinks it was created way too fast. Thus he keeps his mask on as protection.

“They would literally have to draw my blood first, then mix it with that to see if there was any type of chemical reaction,” he said of getting a vaccine. He was only half-joking.

“They came up with a cure for this in a year?” he said. “It’s not making any sense to me.”

‘I’m going to keep wearing it’

As for Wiggins, “I’m going to keep wearing it until they say it’s not here anymore,” he said of his mask and COVID. “I think its too early to say not to wear it. You still got people who have not been vaccinated. There are a lot of people who have not been vaccinated.”

Like him?

“Yeah,” he said, adding that he already thinks, based on symptoms, that he might have gotten COVID-19 months ago. “There’s still people dying of it.”

He’s just suspicious of everything, so better safe than sorry.

Lindsey Borgnino of North Kansas City said she and her family are going to “err on the side of caution.” They plan to keep their masks on, especially in places like Target and Costco and grocery stores if they feel they can’t be safely distanced from others.

“You can trust yourself that you’re vaccinated. But the general public, you just don’t know them,” she said.

She is seven months pregnant, “so I’m probably a little more heightened with concerns because it’s not just myself,” Borgnino said.

She and her husband have been been vaccinated, and her 12-year-old was scheduled to get a shot. As of last week, children ages 12 to 15 are eligible now for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. She also has children ages 10 and 7.

An executive assistant for a Kansas City IT company, she worried that stores won’t be able to “police” customers or stop them from claiming they’re vaccinated when they’re not.

“I know there were people who were very much against wearing masks when it was mandatory, so I think that definitely is a concern of ours,” she said.

“I feel like we’ve been so regimented this far, it would just seem senseless to put this much time and effort into it then at the very end either get yourself or someone else sick.”

Dave Witcher, 53, of Kansas City was walking outdoors downtown, fully vaccinated, with his mask on. At his gym, he said, he runs on a treadmill wearing a mask.

“You know,” Witcher said, “I understand why they want to ease the mask restrictions. It’s been an emotional burden on so many people. But even being vaccinated, maybe I’m not susceptible to getting COVID, but I still might be carrying COVID. While I might be safe, I could still be a threat to other people.”

The mask, he said, is “partially to protect myself. Also it is just to help other people feel OK. If you’re walking around without a mask, we don’t have the ‘I’ve been vaccinated badge,’ which would be kind of scary if we did.

“It is just to kind of help other people feel safe. You see somebody without a mask, you just worry.”