Last April, in the terrifying early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the United States Postal Service was gearing up to send 650 million reusable face masks to Americans—enough to provide five for every household in the country. But before the agency could announce the plan, it was scrapped by the Trump administration: “There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president,” a former administration official told the Washington Post, “that households receiving masks might create concern or panic.”
How would the U.S. response to COVID be different had Donald Trump and his administration worried less about saving face and more about taking simple, but constructive action? Well, one thing is certain: Had the Trump White House not axed the USPS mask plan, the minor inconvenience of wearing a face covering—one of the most effective tools for mitigating the virus’s spread—would not have become the partisan political sticking point it morphed into.
Thanks to mixed messages about masks, and Trump’s infamous and idiotic refusal to wear them consistently, it took far longer than it should have for Americans to embrace masks—and while a vast majority began wearing them more consistently by summer’s end, they remain an absurd culture war symbol for Trump supporters and others who oppose pandemic precautions.
Joe Biden, of course, made masking up a promise of his presidential campaign, and upon taking office mandated their usage where he could and asked Americans to wear them for the first 100 days of his term in an appeal to their “patriotic duty.” In an effort to promote the masks further, he may soon do what the Trump administration didn’t: Mailing masks to Americans. Unlike the early days of the pandemic, when the plan was first under consideration, masks are not particularly hard to come by anymore and can be acquired cheaply—though the more effective high-filtration masks, which have been in high demand as more transmissible variants of the coronavirus spread across the country, remain in shorter supply. But a massive mask distribution plan, which has been floated at multiple White House meetings in recent days, according to NBC News, could help further promote their use. “There are a range of options on the table to help protect more Americans from the coronavirus and encourage people to mask up,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told the outlet. “But no decision has been made.”
While it’s unclear what impact mask distribution would have at this stage of the pandemic, it underscores Biden officials’ sense of urgency on mask usage as the nation enters an uncertain in-between stage of the pandemic. The end is in sight—even if it were to continue on its current sluggish pace, the U.S. would have 80% of its population vaccinated in the next year. If the administration and states can dramatically improve the vaccine rollout as Biden as his top health officials are working to do, and there are no major setbacks, herd immunity and some sense of normalcy will arrive much sooner than that. But between now and then, particularly as more infectious mutations spread, the Biden team will have to find a way to limit the damage the virus has wreaked on a pandemic-fatigued populace.
The good news? Reported cases have tapered off somewhat in recent weeks, as have deaths and hospitalizations, while the vaccination pace has quickened. (Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning about the potential spread at Super Bowl parties this weekend). The anticipated arrival of new vaccines, including one from Novavax, is even more reason for optimism. The bad news? Infections and deaths are still extraordinarily high—this winter has marked the worst stretch of the entire pandemic—and “various variants that likely have increased transmissibility” could become more common, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday on MSNBC. For the Biden administration, that means it’s more important than ever to get Americans to comply with health precautions. The new variants, Walensky said, will “probably be less forgiving when we don’t follow that guidance.”
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