What to say to COVID-19-vaccinated friend who stops wearing a mask
Q: What should you do if your friend who has been vaccinated stops wearing a mask in public?
A: I like to ask reasonably intelligent people questions that might help me better understand their decision-making. So my initial interaction would be something like this:
1) “I understand you were recently vaccinated.
Is that why you’re no longer wearing a mask in public?” If the response is in the affirmative, I’d ask another question.
2) “Are you under the impression that since you’ve been vaccinated, you are no longer a risk for spreading or contracting COVID-19?”
To the second question, my friend might reply, “Yes, I’m vaccinated, so I can’t contract the illness.”
To that I would say, “By getting vaccinated you have significantly lowered the possibility that you will contract COVID-19. However, you may already have COVID-19 but are one of those many people who exhibit no symptoms and, despite a vaccination, you could still be a risk for spreading it.””
— Jay Baglia, associate professor of health communication at DePaul University’s College of Communication
A: It’s important to wear a mask to show everyone in the community that you care about protecting them from becoming ill. If that wasn’t convincing enough, I’d try humor: “Your face is lovely, but not lovely enough to die for. Put on a mask!”
— Mercedes Carnethon, vice chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine