Letter to the Editor: DePaul doesn’t need a mask mandate
The statue of John J. Egan, located outside of the Lincoln Park Student Center, wearing a mask.
Disclaimer: This is an edited version of an email sent to DePaul administration last week by the writer
To The Editor,
The administration’s decision to reinstate the University mask mandate is completely unnecessary and not based in science. I am fully vaccinated. Everyone I know is fully vaccinated. We are a population with extremely high vaccination rates and will soon be close to 100 percent due to the vaccine requirement. This is not a community where Covid-19 spread is extraordinarily likely, nor is it one where the population is at a significant risk of illness (the overwhelming majority of students never were).
Here are some statistics; In Illinois, the percent of vaccinated individuals who have been hospitalized is under .01 percent and some of those hospitalizations were not even for Covid-19. The Covid-19 death rate in Illinois for vaccinated individuals is a statistical 0.00 percent. The CDC has even admitted that these “breakthrough cases” are exceedingly rare.
You cannot look at these figures and tell people that this disease is still a threat to vaccinated individuals. Spread of a disease does not matter if there are not serious cases, and this spread itself is extremely rare. This is why we don’t annually lock down for the flu or common cold.
I understand that the justification will be that you are simply following local and federal guidance. In response, I would like to say that the local and federal organizations responsible for issuing this guidance have shed every bit of credibility they once had throughout this pandemic. Their decisions have not been based in science, but rather in politics. This pandemic has become far too partisan, and this is what is occurring now with the new guidance.
Furthermore, everybody has had the chance to receive their vaccination. Vaccine supply has greatly outpaced demand since as early as April. Those who have chosen to not receive protection from the virus have accepted that risk. That is a decision they have made about their own health. They don’t need the government, or their university, to decide what is best for them. At a certain point, people need to be allowed to make decisions for themselves, even if you believe that to be the wrong decision.
Lift this mandate. There is no reason to continue to go through this charade of precaution when there are no longer large risks associated with returning to in-person courses. We already have had a year and a half of our schooling stolen from us. Stop playing games and let us return to normal.
Sincerely,
Dace Potas: A Fed-Up Student
Ava • Sep 7, 2021 at 1:39 pm
so sick of people whining when all they have to do is put a mask on.
Have you never heard of breakthrough cases? Do you really give zero fucks about immune compromised people?
Also you work for the Lone Conservative, I would be shocked if you dont know anyone who is unvaccinated…….
Delta • Aug 23, 2021 at 2:28 pm
This would make a half-way decent argument if it were not for the fact that 1) the Delta variant is at least 2x as contagious as previous variants, 2) the Delta variant causes more severe illness, and 3) Delta breakthrough cases in vaccinated people seem to be higher than in previous variants, and 4) as with all previous variants, vaccinated people with the illness (even if asymptomatic) can still spread the virus. So yes, I want to go to a school that mandates masks.
Bill Rechia • Aug 13, 2021 at 1:13 pm
Finally an article where there is no fear mongering from the depaulia staff of covid and how we all must stay online for classes. We all know the depaulia staff just published this so they can seem like they are practicing proper journalism by having both sides of the story. We all know the depaulia staff are just a bunch of libtards who spread covid fear.
Adam • Aug 12, 2021 at 6:17 pm
This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever read.
Sincerely,
Adam: A Fed-Up Student
We...? • Aug 12, 2021 at 6:07 pm
“We”? Who’s “we,” because you most assuredly aren’t speaking for me or for disabled and immunocompromised folks who don’t share the same privileges as you? I am equally upset by the fact that we have had “a year and a half of our schooling stolen from us,” but if we don’t follow these policies, only more damage will be done. The only reason we had so much time stolen from us is precisely because of this kind of rhetoric and people who were/are unwilling to mask-up and get vaccinated.
Also…it’s a mask. If I am going to chose between tossing out an “annoying” piece of fabric or keeping the lives of my loved ones safe, I am clearly choosing the latter. Just because you will be “fine” does not mean everyone else will be. The only people making this “political” are folks like you who are making the mask mandate an issue of “freedom” (as if the United States has EVER been “free” for BIPOC, queer folks, etc.).
This is a very silly, at best (and dangerous, at worst) take to have.
John Morgan • Aug 12, 2021 at 6:07 pm
Well stated, young man. Your position will not be very popular among that flock of fearful sheep who feel comfortable only around others who agree with them, and who need to be told what to think and what to do. However, you are speaking the truth. The emperor has no clothes. You will inspire others and history will show you are correct.