by | October 7, 2023 · 2:59 pm

Mask Update

As of May 11, 2023, the CDC was still recommending masking for anyone over 2 years of age. Their claims include:

  • Masking is a critical public health tool for preventing spread of COVID-19, and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask.
  • To protect yourself and others from COVID-19, CDC continues to recommend that you wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently.
  • Masks and respirators are effective at reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, when worn consistently and correctly.

On September 28, 2023, a paper entitled “An analysis of studies pertaining to masks in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Characteristics and quality of studies from 1978 to 2023” was published in The American Journal of Medicine. In it, researchers examined all the mask research that has been published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

The CDC touts the MMWR as its “primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.” It is one of the most influential federal health journals, one which the researchers note “has substantial influence on United States health policy.”

Of all the studies they looked at, 77 met their inclusion criteria; all were published after 2019. Fifty-eight stated that masks were effective, yet only 11 had statistically significant evidence. All of them were retrospective, cross-sectional, or observational in design; zero were randomized. More than half claimed causal rather than correlative or associative results, which retrospective, cross-sectional, observational, and non-randomized studies cannot validly assert.

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