WASHINGTON — On Sunday, Jan. 23, thousands convened on the National Mall in D.C. from as far as Arizona to locals venturing in from Virginia. Attendees voiced multiple concerns, but traveled to the mall centered around one cause: to protest mandates on vaccinations and masks that are sweeping the country and causing great debates in places like Northern Virginia.
RELATED: Some Stafford County parents send kids to elementary school without masks, turned away by principal
WUSA9 was live on the ground at the Defeat the Mandates rally, getting to know participants and what concerned them most. Below are a few claims from those conversations regarding masks that we took to a researcher and Associate Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Source:
Our source for fact-checking these claims is Dr. Rupali Limaye, an award-winning scientist who has achieved five degrees. Currently, she serves as the Director of Behavioral and Implementation Science at the International Vaccine Access Center, as well as the Associate Director for Behavioral Research at the Institute for Vaccine Safety.
Dr. Limaye’s bio states that she has a focus on infectious diseases and is a social and behavioral scientist and health communication scholar.
WATCH the full Defeat the Mandates rally interview below. The claims addressed in this article, in order, are at 4:00,15:42, 23:00 and 22:00.
Claim 1: Do cloth masks do anything to protect people from COVID?
Answer: Dr. Limaye says all masks, whether they be cotton, nylon, or an N95, definitely provide some level of protection when worn correctly. But exactly how much protection is the real factor to pay attention to.
Context:
An Arizona father named Kevin stated his opinion to WUSA9’s Megan Rivers on masks during the rally. He said that he moved his family from Seattle to Arizona after the forced school closures in the pandemic. He stood alongside his 7-year-old son as he shared his perspective.
Megan Rivers: "What do you say when you see cities, like this [D.C.] region for instance, when some of the mask mandates were lifted, we saw a surge in COVID cases. Do you think there is any benefit to wearing masks, or do you just not think there’s a benefit at all?"
“I think there is a benefit to wearing the right type of mask in the right situations. Healthcare workers are taught how to wear a fit-tested, N95 mask. Those work. There’s no question those work. Those make an impact,” Kevin said.
“I think the average cloth mask, that the average American wears, which is not very well-fitting, doesn’t do much of anything to protect anybody against COVID.”
After listening to Kevin's claims, Dr. Limaye specified that all masks are going to offer various levels of protection with regards to filtration, which is the main safety concern. She said that there have been several studies concerning mask effectiveness, and referenced a 2021 study that showcased the effectiveness of even cotton masks.
A September 2021 American Society for Microbiology study showed that a basic cotton mask protected the wearer 17% to 27%, a surgical mask had 47% to 50% percent protection and a loose-fitting N95 had 57% to 86% protection. A securely sealed N95 performed best at 79% to 90% protection.
Click here to view the data. Click here to view other similar results, synthesized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Claim 2: Are there any documented health problems children can get from wearing masks?
Answer: Dr. Limaye said that, to her knowledge, there have not been any studies to show that masks cause health issues.
"What we have learned is that with specific students they do need to see, specifically for cognitive development, they need to see people's mouths move . . . [but] purely from a sort of health perspective, there has not been any evidence, I would say that masks could cause some sort of a health hazard for a child."
Context:
A man who said he is the father of school-aged children asked to share his view on the topic with WUSA9 during the rally.
“It’s psychologically, intellectually and emotionally and physically dangerous for children. There are 24 types of health problems that children will get from wearing masks; from breathing in the fibers to the bacteria-laden germs that are in the masks.”
“What are you basing [those claims] on?” WUSA9’s Megan Rivers asked.
“Science. Readings from doctors and so forth,” the man said.
After listening to this father's claims, Dr. Limaye specified that there is no study that she knows of that verifies a multitude of health problems children will get from wearing masks.
"Obviously in the medical profession, they have been wearing masks for a really, really, really long time. . . there haven't been any known, documented health issues or health conditions that have arisen because of mask-wearing," she said.
"Some children may have issues with regards to learning. And that is something to consider and to think about. But I think this issue of really inducing some sort of a health hazard - that's not quite right."
The Centers for Disease Control continues to recommend universal masking for those aged two and older. They state definitively that correctly wearing a mask does not pose a health risk to a child, citing these studies as proof.
However, exceptions can be made for those who cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, because of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease due to potentially obstructed breathing. Issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or severe anxiety can also make masking unrealistic.
The World Health Organization's guidance specifies that, although not the cause of a health issue, masks can create difficulties for children who already have certain health conditions.
“Children with severe cognitive or respiratory impairments with difficulties tolerating a mask should not be required to wear masks,” the organization says, along with recommending that children under five years old not be required to wear masks.
"This is based on the safety and overall interest of the child and the capacity to appropriately use a mask with minimal assistance."
WHO and UNICEF advise that the decision to use masks for children aged six to 11 should be based on multiple factors, such as the child's ability to wear one correctly with a monitoring adult, their interactions among those who are high-risk and the potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychosocial development as assessed by educators, parents and/or medical professionals.
The organization recommends those over 12 wear masks in the same settings as adults.
Claim 3: Do masks lead to depression or delayed speech in children?
Answer: Dr. Limaye said that the answer is a tough one, especially regarding mental health issues.
"I think all of these different things that have happened because of COVID-19 have also contributed to mental health. So I don't feel comfortable saying that because of wearing a mask, [children have developed depression]," she said.
As far as delayed speech, she said "I've not seen any studies that have documented that as of yet."
Context:
A Virginia grandmother to young children shared with WUSA9's Megan Rivers her opinion on little ones being masked.
"COVID is really not very dangerous for children. I have young grandchildren, they need to be able to see people's faces. They're learning to talk. Kids are having great deals of depression now; we're not meant to have our faces masked. Children don't need to be looking at that all day long."
Dr. Limaye reinforced that what causes mental health conditions like depression and anxiety are caused by many factors. "It's really hard to say," she concluded.
As far as speech concerns, the CDC suggests, as an alternative, teachers and staff could consider wearing a clear or cloth mask with a clear panel when interacting with young students, students learning to read, or when interacting with people who rely on reading lips.
WUSA9’s Delia Gonçalves and the VERIFY team also fact-checked another claim from the rally regarding vaccines.
Claim 4: Does it take at least 10 years (or any standard amount of time) to develop a safe vaccine?
Experts say that it generally takes around five to 10 years to develop modern vaccinations. The COVID-19 vaccine received FDA Emergency Use Authorization in just one year.
However, the COVID-19 vaccine was not started from scratch. The research on the technology behind the COVID-19 vaccine had been worked on long before average Americans ever heard of the disease - nearly 20 years ago, in 2002. Watch below for experts’ full answers.