Face masks have become a part of Coronavirus life, particularly if you’re not exempt from wearing one.
In the beginning, it was a pain in the ass, let’s face it. How many of us would leave the house, ready to start the day, only to have to trudge back home to retrieve the MF face mask. It is one of the things that just added to the shitstink 2020 has turned out to be.
So with the announcement(s) that vaccinations are on their way, people are starting to wonder when we can start going mask free.
We know that wearing a face mask is said to be crucial in the slowing down the rate of transmission of the Coronavirus, so until the virus is being suppressed in another way, it looks like that face masks will continue play a pivotal role for some months yet.
When will vaccinations start in the UK
Theres been a flurry of announcements about vaccines in the last couple of weeks, which has brought renewed hope that there is a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel.
It is thought that vaccinations in the UK will start from the middle of December and will be given first to those in the highest risk category. Those over the age of 80 and front line NHS workers.
The schedule of vaccination then trickles down as availability spreads across the UK. A report has suggested that by March, everyone in the UK who needs and wants a vaccine will have had it, which is brilliant news looking ahead to a summer of activities, including Pride Season 2021.
There’s no actual date for when you can stop wearing face masks in key areas, like shops
As it stands the law requiring people to wear face masks on public transport and in other settings has an expiry to it. The law says that it expires 12 months after the law came into effect. In this case, the law came into effect on the 15th June 2020, so the face masks are a legal requirement until at least 15th June 2021. The law must also be reviewed after 6 months by the Secretary of State, which means a review on wearing face masks in the UK, is due on the 15th December 2020.
However, we can assume that sometime after March, as transmissions of COVID-19 start to radically (and hopefully) fall and we’ve reached a sort of “herd immunity” thanks to the vaccine that the need for mask-wearing in public will not be needed.
But maybe face masks should stay? After all there are tonnes of airborne virus out there, like the common cold and other flus – so maybe wearing a mask, especially during the winter months, will actually help us reduce the spread of those.
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