Apple Stores Will Continue to Require Masks for Now

[nathansz]

I have my CDC card. Just curious, when should we stop wearing masks? or do you want everyone to live in fear the rest of their lives and wear masks and hazmat suits?

you should stop wearing masks when about 75% of your population is vaccinated.

the best thing you can do to have things go back to normal is to try to convince anyone you know that doesn’t want to get vaccinated for whatever reason to do so

 

[Karma*Police]

How exactly should Apple verify that you're fully vaccinated when you walk into the store?

Vaccines are a little over 90% effective which means even if you’re fully vaccinated, you can still contract Covid. The virus isn’t going away anytime soon. So does that mean Apple should force everyone to wear masks for the next 50 years or however long it takes for Covid to disappear?

Perhaps Apple should listen to science instead of playing into politics and virtue signaling. People who are deathly afraid of catching Covid can always opt to stay at home.

 

[kcslc]

Hmm, people have reported and it has been studied that getting the vaccine makes one more likely to contract it and probably transmit it to others.

Stop spreading lies and misinformation.

 

[R10k]

“Welcome everyone to the 39th annual Armchair Experts convention!”

*the crowed goes wild*

 

[xander49x]

No. The vaccination is supposed to protect you from getting the virus. That's the point.

No it does not educate yourself. The vaccine will not protect you from getting the virus.

 

[eatrains]

Vaccines are a little over 90% effective which means even if you’re fully vaccinated, you can still contract Covid. The virus isn’t going away anytime soon. So does that mean Apple should force everyone to wear masks for the next 50 years or however long it takes for Covid to disappear?

Perhaps Apple should listen to science instead of playing into politics and virtue signaling. People who are deathly afraid of catching Covid can always opt to stay at home.

Perhaps people who can’t be bothered to wear a mask or get a vaccine should opt to stay home?

 

[Juan007]

Apple is a company known for developing leading-edge technology, how could they be so anti-science? It's offensive on so many levels. This policy achieves nothing and actually hurts legitimate efforts to fight the spread of the virus. Tim, you're not a medial doctor. Follow the science!

 

[hans1972]

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are both over 90% effective. So 9 out of 10 vaccinated with those will NEVER get infected. Never catch COVID-19 disease from the virus. The 1 out of 10 who can still get sick if exposed to will have a mild case of COVID-19. If enough people get vaccinated then we get herd immunity.

You are misunderstanding what efficacy means. It doesn't mean that 90% of the vaccinated gains 100% immunity. Probably close to 0% of the people gains 100% immunity. The efficacy are for populations, not individuals.

Efficacy = 100 * (1 - p0 / p1 )

where p0= attack rate with the vaccine and p1 = attack rate with a placebo

Assume an attack rate of 1% over a 3 months period for people without a vaccine and 0.05% of vaccinated people would be diseased.

If we vaccinated a population of 300 million people and protected 95% of them, assuming an attack rate of 1% over a 3 month period, that would leave 15 million people diseased over 3 months.

A 95% vaccine efficacy means that instead of 3 million cases without vaccine we would expect 150 000 cases.

What does 95% COVID-19 vaccine efficacy really mean?

It is imperative to dispel any ambiguity about how vaccine efficacy shown in trials translates into protecting individuals and populations. The mRNA-based Pfizer1,2 and Moderna3 vaccines were shown to have 94–95% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, calculated as 100 × (1 minus the...

www.thelancet.com

 

[ericgtr12]

liberal big corporations strike again to smash the boot of oppression against America. Disgusting and sad

I was under the impression that the free market making their own decision was a welcomed concept by Conservatives, no?

 

[hans1972]

I used to think masks made sense (see my ignorant posts pushing masks last year) until I saw actual real world studies. Even without seeing the studies, you’d think people with any common sense and basic knowledge of facts would realize it’s all bogus by now, but unfortunately it’s become politicized and a way for the morally bereft to virtue signal and shame others who won’t wear one.

Have you read what you are linking to?

From one of the reports:
"There is evidence of low to moderate certainty for the use of medical face masks providing a small to moderate protective effect against COVID-19 in the community, both in terms of personal protection as well as source control (protection of others). Most, but not all, studies show a favourable effect for medical face masks for protecting against COVID-19."

It seems to be opposite of what you're saying.

The biggest problem is that there aren't many good studies for mask use in large population groups.

 

[nathansz]

I used to think masks made sense (see my ignorant posts pushing masks last year) until I saw actual real world studies. Even without seeing the studies, you’d think people with any common sense and basic knowledge of facts would realize it’s all bogus by now, but unfortunately it’s become politicized and a way for the morally bereft to virtue signal and shame others who won’t wear one.

real world studies as reported by a pseudoscientific conspiracy theory site.

cool

 

[Scoob Redux]

I still can't believe the lengths people will go to complain about... wearing one piece of cloth on their face.

Wearing a piece of cloth isn't the issue. Being FORCED to do so by an authoritarian government (or corporation) IS the issue. We need to separate the science of good health practices with the constitutional balance of individual liberties. You are free to implement whatever preventive measures you wish: wear a mask, wear a face shield, wash your hands regularly, stay home away from others, etc. But U.S. citizens are NOT guaranteed a life of ZERO risk...if they were, automobiles would be outlawed. If you go in public, you might get sick. That's life.

 

[topdrawer]

Wearing a piece of cloth isn't the issue. Being FORCED to do so by an authoritarian government (or corporation) IS the issue. We need to separate the science of good health practices with the constitutional balance of individual liberties. You are free to implement whatever preventive measures you wish: wear a mask, wear a face shield, wash your hands regularly, stay home away from others, etc. But U.S. citizens are NOT guaranteed a life of ZERO risk...if they were, automobiles would be outlawed. If you go in public, you might get sick. That's life.

you are required a license and insurance to operate a vehicle. it is not a right but a privilege. if you break the law, your privilege gets taken away. you also can't drive your car wherever you want. and you also can't drive cars that don't meet smog checks in certain states. there are all kinds of government restrictions in your little example.

 

[willzyx]

No, requiring people who got the vaccine to continue all the mitigation practices just as they had to before being vaccinated was an issue. A lot of people wondered what the point of getting it was if it didn’t change how they would live.

The point was to achieve herd immunity.

 

[doboy]

Like it.

 

[willzyx]

Wearing a piece of cloth isn't the issue. Being FORCED to do so by an authoritarian government (or corporation) IS the issue. We need to separate the science of good health practices with the constitutional balance of individual liberties. You are free to implement whatever preventive measures you wish: wear a mask, wear a face shield, wash your hands regularly, stay home away from others, etc. But U.S. citizens are NOT guaranteed a life of ZERO risk...if they were, automobiles would be outlawed. If you go in public, you might get sick. That's life.

Private businesses can require you to do what they want. Don't like wearing a mask inside a Costco? Solution is simple. Don't shop there. Your rights are not being infringed upon.

 

[windowsblowsass]

This is absolutely wrong.

It's supposed to protect you from serious effects and hospitalization. Which it absolutely does.

But you can (and it HAS been shown in multiple instances) still pass it along to other people. (Besides, what does 95% efficacy mean to you, anyway?)

That’s not how vaccines work.

 

[minik]

I mean there are many Apple retail stores inside shopping malls already. It is still a very early stage of vaccination, I will keep my mask on especially indoor for this year at least. Honor system in the USA? This is laughable.

 

[supercoolmanchu]

How exactly should Apple verify that you're fully vaccinated when you walk into the store?

With their totally flawed, contact tracing scheme they partnered with super trusty Google on!

Apple helped sow fear and panic in society at large, by creating a tool to try and segregate people based on entirely preposterous testing protocols.

You remember… the “is your neighbor a witch / wear a yellow star” setting?

No reason it can’t “work” for Apple Retail to continue the same.

 

[uller6]

Wearing a piece of cloth isn't the issue. Being FORCED to do so by an authoritarian government (or corporation) IS the issue. We need to separate the science of good health practices with the constitutional balance of individual liberties. You are free to implement whatever preventive measures you wish: wear a mask, wear a face shield, wash your hands regularly, stay home away from others, etc. But U.S. citizens are NOT guaranteed a life of ZERO risk...if they were, automobiles would be outlawed. If you go in public, you might get sick. That's life.

Yeah, preach brother! Why does the government force me to wear pants or underwear when I go outside my house? It’s ridiculous! I should be able to go anywhere in America I want to without any pants on, whether that’s a crowded grocery store, an elementary school, or even the library! It’s a free country and this is oppression!!!

 

[DanTSX]

It’s all hygiene theater. It is far more important to wash you hands more frequently, than to fidget with masks all day.

But it’s apple’s choice. So mask up or vote with your wallet.

 

[citysnaps]

I have my CDC card. Just curious, when should we stop wearing masks? or do you want everyone to live in fear the rest of their lives and wear masks and hazmat suits?

With a response like that I assume you're not very knowledgable about the subject. I'll pass.

 

[milescortez]

Shocking.

 

[raybo]

Which is why surgeons wear masks when the OR and have done so for generations. Would you really want one to go without masks when they take you into the OR.

Personally, I'm fighting the 5th cancer and will be wearing masks when ever I go to a store, It's not rocket science. Patients going to Chemo all wear a mask, as do the medical professional personnel working in the chemo rooms.

There is also the problem with the annual flu issues. Last year has been very mild because people were wearing masks, but 61000 died in '17 - '18, and over 800,000 were hospitalized. Masks are going to be attractive to older folks as well as all people who are fragile - and their families.

I believe that the flu "disappeared" not because of masks but more probably because our new friend supersedes the flu. Many if not most C19 cases and deaths occurred in folks who were susceptible to flu. C19 is more contagious and beat out the flu.

 

[fastlanephil]

Here’s a video from last year from Dr Ted Noel testing popular masks effectiveness.

I think that masks probably do little to reduce floating aerosols indoors, although they can no doubt prevent face to face transmission. But I think what wearing masks may do well is promote social distancing. It like having a sign on you saying “ keep your distance”.