[hyperhopper]

The united states also said not to buy masks and that they were ineffective during the pandemic.

Placing absolute trust in these organizations and restricting freedom of speech based on that is a very bootlicking, anti-freedom stance

[anonymousiam]

Fauci was trying to prevent a run on masks, which he believed were needed by the health care workers. So he probably justified his lie to the US to himself because it was for the "greater good" (The ends justify the means is not my view BTW).

It turns out that masks ARE largely ineffective at preventing CoViD infection. It's amazing how many studies have come up with vastly different results.

https://egc.yale.edu/research/largest-study-masks-and-covid-...

(Before you tell me that the story I cited above says the opposite, look at the effectiveness percentages they claim for each case.)

There's also this: https://x.com/RandPaul/status/1970565993169588579

[iyn]

Actual (N95/FFP2/FFP3) masks DO work, your comment is misleading. The study you've linked says:

> Colored masks of various construction were handed out free of charge, accompanied by a range of mask-wearing promotional activities inspired by marketing research

"of various construction" is... not very specific.

If you just try to cover your face with a piece of cloth it won't work well. But if you'll use a good mask (N95/FFP2/FFP3), with proper fit [0] then you can decrease the chance of being infected (see e.g. [1])

[0] https://www.mpg.de/17916867/coronavirus-masks-risk-protectio...

[1] https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/upgrading-ppe-for-staff-...

[dotnet00]

They claim a 5% reduction in spread with cloth masks and a 12% reduction with surgical masks. I think 1 less case out of every 10 or 20 is pretty acceptable?

Especially at the time when many countries were having their healthcare systems overloaded by cases.

[lisbbb]

I didn't want to be the one to have to say it, but neither masks nor social distancing had any scientific backing at all. It was all made up, completely made up. The saddest thing I see all the time is the poor souls STILL wearing masks in 2025 for no reason. I don't care how immunocompromised they are, the mask isn't doing anything to prevent viral infection at all. They might help against pollen. I also can't believe how many doctors and nurses at my wife's cancer clinic wear masks all the damn time even though they are not in a surgical enviornment. It's all been foisted upon them by the management of those clinics and the management is completely insane and nobody speaks up about it because it's their job if they do, so the isanity just keeps rolling on and on and it is utterly dehumanizing and demoralizing. If a cancer patient wants to wear a mask because it affords them some tiny comfort, then fine, but that is purely psychological. I've seen it over and over and over because I've been at numerous hospitals this past year trying to help my wife survive a cancer that I think Pfizer may be to blame for.

[amanaplanacanal]

Yeah they burned a lot of trust with that, for sure.

[lisbbb]

They burned it beyond down to the ground and below. And many of you on here willfully continue to trust them and argue vehemently against people who try to tell you the actual truth of the matter. RFK Jr. is a flawed human being, but he's doing some good work in unwinding some of the web of lies we live under right now.

[dakial1]

I think the problem is that apparently some people discovered there is a profitable business model in spreading misinformation, so a trustful (even if not always right), non malicious, reference of information might be needed.

But who watches the watchmen?