'More fearful than I was': At-risk immunocompromised Americans decry lifting of travel mask mandate

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Title (Dublin Core)

Description (Dublin Core)

This is a news story from USA Today by Ella Lee. This is about pushback against the lifting of the mask mandate, as it has made immunocompromised people afraid.

"Being immunocompromised, it's already a huge risk getting on a plane with everybody masked," said Derek Schmitz, 17, of Oxford, Alabama, who takes immune-suppressing arthritis medication and has to fly for work as a disability advocate. "Now, knowing that I most likely will be one of the only people on a plane with a mask is petrifying."

After the lift of the mandate for planes and other public transportation was voided, ride share companies like Uber and Lyft have followed suit in removing their own mandates.

"I was angry and felt hopeless," said Erin Masengale, 33, who has multiple autoimmune diseases treated by immunosuppressants. "I just want people to realize that when they cheer for the ending of protections, they’re cheering for the ending of access to everything for people like me."

Under the strict definition of immunocompromised, only about 3% of Americans fit that definition. Though, the author mentions that disabled and chronically ill people, a much larger population, also face risk with the lifted mandates.

The question I have for people that read this is: is it worth it to keep the mandate even though it caters to a relatively small population? Would it be wiser for people already with these ailments to mask on their own instead of mandating it for everyone else, especially if overall cases and hospitalizations are lower? These are the questions I have after reading this article. I am not against people masking when they see fit, but it is clear that these mandates have worn many people out.

Date (Dublin Core)

April 20, 2022

Creator (Dublin Core)

Ella Lee

Event Identifier (Dublin Core)

HST580

Partner (Dublin Core)

Arizona State University

Type (Dublin Core)

Text story

Link (Bibliographic Ontology)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/04/20/immunocompromised-americans-fear-travel-mask-mandate-removal/7372643001/

https://web.archive.org/web/20220925195704/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/04/20/immunocompromised-americans-fear-travel-mask-mandate-removal/7372643001/

Publisher (Dublin Core)

USA Today

Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)

English Government State

English Government Federal

English News coverage

English Travel

Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)

Florida

CDC

immunosuppressants

airplanes

health

USA Today

Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)

immunocompromised

disability

chronic illness

mask

mask mandate

travel

public transportation

federal government

Uber

Lyft

Collection (Dublin Core)

Disability

Linked Data (Dublin Core)

HST 580 Professional Experience/Archives course

Date Submitted (Dublin Core)

4/20/2022

Date Modified (Dublin Core)

04/22/2022

09/25/2022

08/02/2022

Date Created (Dublin Core)

04/20/2022

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Covid 19

This item was submitted on April 20, 2022 by [anonymous user] using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive

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