B.C. by Mastroianni and Hart for June 20, 2021

Q: What do you think about requiring everyone to wear masks (even where everyone has been vaccinated or has had a disease)?

A: They are being robbed of their freedom.

“Have a good day.”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!”

(Why I do not let people call me Libertarian. Or Conservative. Or since recently, even Republican.)

The good news, the vaccinated are more than not protected from the new variants. At least, so far. The unvaccinated are still spreading and dying from a disease that they refuse to get vaccinated from.

The funniest are the ones that for decades have had to have proof of vaccination to enter some horse shows and even to put their dogs and cats into kennels, but wow, suddenly when it comes to vaccinating themselves…

I think that you are trying to needle somebody.

Really Messrs Mastroianni and Hart? A bank robber chooses to wear a mask to protect from being identified. There is zero correlation to the pandemic requirement. I advise Peter to stop sending tablets to his pen pal.

I knew this would be like NextDoor and would start another fight because masking is a political statement here. I come to comics for laughter. Not more fights.

The idea that people will behave conducive to the “common good” (masks, vaccines, laws) has always been flawed.

I’ve been reading B.C. for well over 40 years and what someone said recently had never occurred to me. How does a concrete tablet float on the water?? But, it’s only a comic strip.

@Doug K- Personally, I don’t think it should be a requirement but I still wear one when I’m out despite the fact that this virus seems to be tapering off.

Last March they thought I had COVID-19. I could not breathe or catch a breath. It was terrible. Felt like I was being smothered. As it turned out I had AFIB and fluid had built up in my body. To have COVID would feel this way and I never want to feel that way. A mask might not be a complete protection but it’s better than nothing. This new strain is worse. Get vaccinated!

With covid deaths in the US approaching the 1918 pandemic levels, I think anti-mask statements are really irresponsible.

Happy Fathers’ Day to all.

So now we know that the GOP right wing guys live on the other side of the water.

Well put!

Oh, I get it: the Dems are over here in BC land and the Repubs are over there robbing banks. Makes sense.

Good one!

I wore a mask among people before I was vaccinated, and most people I knew also did. I did not hear of any transmission going on during that time. I think masks did a lot of good. Now that I’m vaccinated, I will still wear one when I go to work at the hospital, when a store or business asks me to and when I’m in larger groups of people… otherwise, I go without. I’ll be keeping my masks at hand for allergies, dust, incipient colds, etc.

Only 50% of our state is fully vaccinated. So I wear a mask indoors in crowded venues. There is a 50-50 chance I have to protect the another person I see from myself. It’s a concept called “Love thy neighbor” even if he doesn’t look like you or speak like you or dress like you or have the same sexual orientation as you or doesn’t sit in the pew next to you on Sunday morning.

The problem with people who choose not to get vaccinated is that everyone under 12 years of age is still not vaccinated. Non-vaxxers won’t put me at risk, my wife and I are fully vaccinated. They put their own children and the children of others at risk. Maybe they just don’t care. Empathy isn’t a part of their culture.

Masks don’t work….ask Fauci….one of those times….

true freedom must be balanced by responsibility, else it’s just selfishness

Sheeple are going to sheeple; just don’t force me to be one of the flock….

I always thought that ugly people should wear a mask. It does have it’s advantage. I saw in a store window, “If you look like Pelosie, you must wear a mask”. Makes sense to me.

By that last comment; they should force Illinois politicians to wear masks.

I would turn that answer around. I would not have any regard for others’ safety if I was wearing a mask while robbing a bank.

Yet still, IF I choose not to get vaccinated and I die, it is MY choice. If I choose to get vaccinated and survive the virus, it is MY choice. If I get cancer and choose not to take treatment, it is MY choice. If I live or if I die, it is MY choice. Either way, it should be MY choice. Some in my family are vaccinated, some are not. I respect both. I just want to be able to choose without all of the drama. Those who are not vaccinated pose no risk to those that are, any more, and likely less, than those who choose the flu vaccine and those that do not. Many in my family are at as great a risk from the flu. That’s why I CHOOSE to get vaccinated every year. Just saying it should be choice, not mandate, not drama. I seriously hoped we had gotten rid of drama in January. Apparently not.

I was in law enforcement for 28 years and I felt very uncomfortable wearing a mask when asking the bank teller that I would like to make a withdrawal.

Some countries have no access to even basic healthcare.Some countries barely have enough food.In some countries (and increasingly many parts of the US) people are denied the right to vote in free elections, and some countries kill people for dissenting.

But having to wear a mask in a grocery store? Sure, that’s TYRANNY! (not.)

I preferred to think of it as protecting myself first, then others.

Funny thing is when you want to hide one’s identity (like any good superhero story will tell you) you have to mask the eyes. Masks like the ones we all (well, some of us at least) wear during this time does nothing to ACTUALLY conceal one’s identity. The eyes tell all. ;-)

Our hospitals and medical clinics are still requiring masks … how silly! Don’t they understand that our all knowing society deems otherwise and there is no way anyone crawling with Covid can transmit it to the unprotected by coughing or sneezing on them? Herd immunity equals profits on farms and ranches, but none for humans except where we still have slavery. How many died of it in your county the past week?

Hey gang? You’ve always wanted to know to whom Peter sends those tablets to, right? Well, I think I know — it has to be the long-missing Anno and Conahonty! d;o)

Ah, yes. The freedom to trod on other’s freedoms.

Masks work. End of story.

Freedom isn’t unlimited. When two freedoms conflict the one that does know harm prevails. Preventing a possible death sentence trumps the incontrovertible wearing a mask. Also a private establishment can set make the dress code stricter than public health demands.

As for mask efficacy unless you have a medical degree in infectious diseases or at PhD in a STEM field – STFU and listen those that actually understand the science.

“Since you feel so put upon, it has been suggested that EMS, fire crews, and police stop to decide if they think your needs are worth inconveniencing them. That shouldn’t take them long to field a committee to study and publish a report for their approval or disapproval. Of course the odds of a positive review that favors your rescue might benefit from any empathetic behavior you demonstrate. But offering a response like that which you have posted doesn’t sound too promising. We’ll get back to you within 180 days.”

All freedom comes with responsibility. Freedom never ever ever meant thinking you could do whatever you feel like because you want or don’t want to do something. That’s toddlerhood. Freedom means choosing to do what’s best for all because you are a person who cares.

Give me liberty…and give me death.

Coronavirus Mutations:

Alpha (B.1.1.7) Scientists estimate that these mutations could make the virus up to 70% more transmissible, meaning it could spread more easily. The mutation on the alpha variant is on the spike protein, which helps the virus infect its host. This is what COVID-19 vaccines target.

Beta (B.1.351) appears to spread more easily than the original virus but doesn’t seem to cause worse illness.

Gamma (P.1) appears to be more contagious than earlier strains of the virus. And it may be able to infect people who’ve already had COVID-19.

Delta (B.1.617.2). The highly contagious variant is now found in 43 countries including the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Singapore. It’s causing more cases of COVID-19 in young people. A study of the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness against this variant found that:

2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were 88% effective 2 weeks after the second dose.

2 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine available in the U.K. were 60% effective.

Both vaccines are only 33% effective 3 weeks after the first dose.

Given the difference in protection between doses, experts recommend getting the second shot as soon as you’re eligible.

Research suggests that changes to the spike protein may make the delta variant up to 50% more transmissible than other COVID-19 variants. Experts have concerns about how the mutated delta variant affects immune response.

https://www.webmd.com/lung/coronavirus-strains#1

There are too many comments for me to read them all, so, I apologize if I step on anyone’s toes, but, going in a different direction, than most here… I could be mistaken, but, given today’s atmosphere of suing for every little thing, is it even remotely possible that a lot of businesses are requiring masks for THEIR protection? That way, if someone who was in their store maskless, and they do catch Covid, from basically, anywhere, or anyone they were in contact with, they can’t sue the business owners for not requiring masks, and through circumstantial evidence, accuse that business of being the source of the virus they caught? Just speculating, here.

Good one.

After the thief robbed the bank and left, the police arrived.

But when the police asked the bank tellers to ID the thief, they said that they couldn’t, because he wasn’t wearing a mask.

Even before we were a sovereign nation, General Washington established quarantine’s and mask mandates to protect future American’s and our military from rampant diseases and the ignorance associated with it.

Ratio’d, nice

in my own opinion, mask are stupid, if you have covid stay home.

Funny thing.The comments seem to be divided into a couple of mindsets.1. Masks help protect the wearer and others, even if not completely, so it’s ok to be asked or told/directed to wear them.2. It’s not ok to be told or directed, or even asked if you read between the lines, to wear masks or anything else regardless of potential effects on others.BUT, and this is based on some examples given e.g. a dress code in a high class restaurant that is owned, operated and paid for by someone else, it is NOT ok to be told there are standards to adhere to.And boy, is THAT some breathtaking hypocrisy! “I don’t have to follow rules (probably including setting my own rules) but I must not be expected to follow anyone’s rules regardless of the circumstances.WOW!!!!