Setting an example for the rest of the world

This feeling of freedom, once receiving the vaccine, is perceived by most people. Once vaccinated, there is truly little to be worried about in terms of the COVID-19 spread. The Centers for Disease Control has said that two people who have already been vaccinated for two weeks are able to interact with each other without a mask, even without social distancing — just as we would interact before the pandemic. And although the future is looking bright in San Mateo County, we often forget that the pandemic is still at large, with the global rate of new cases increasing at an all-time high.

Since the United States has been handling the pandemic eminently well, I often pondered at why those who are vaccinated can’t simply live as if the pandemic ceased to exist? Through research and reflection, I have found two answers to this difficult question; both of which I believe are equally important.

The first reason is more technical — the public’s inability to determine who is and isn’t vaccinated makes mask-wearing rules complicated. If a general rule were to exist that those vaccinated can gather indoors alongside those who aren’t vaccinated, there would be no way of ensuring that all those not wearing masks were truly vaccinated. This could possibly lead to a wider spread of COVID-19, which could put our county at risk of falling back into a more restrictive COVID tier.

But the less obvious reason as to why we should continue to wear masks is to set an example for others. I recall reading about New Zealand’s impressively low COVID-19 rates, and the country being entirely reopened with locals who were living as if it was 2019. This made me anxious for the United States to reopen. At the time, our county was still lowering our COVID rates, but I was desperate to open sooner.

That feeling of impatience and jealousy is shared by many. Right now, there are several nations where vaccines are of limited supply, and their light at the end of the tunnel stretches further than ever before. But in troubling times, the United States is a nation known to be looked upon as an example to other foreign lands as to how to succeed, and that power could be of no better use than now. It is up to us to set an example for others that we will still wear a mask, so that other countries, especially those still tightly wrapped up in the pandemic, can follow this habit. Nations witnessing the United States maskless could be impressionable, and others will want to follow our footsteps, even if they are not quite yet ready to take the masks off.

Similarly, we also stand as an example of what a mostly-vaccinated country will look like once we do remove the masks in the coming months. These are the examples we, as a nation handling the pandemic must set, and if we continue to do so, we can influence others to want to wear a mask, attempt to receive a vaccine and eventually, return to normalcy.

Jacob Lubarsky is a senior at Burlingame High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.