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~100million people in the U.S. are at risk of severe COVID19 as cases are rising across our country! In this marginalized community, ~3% are immunocompromised.

Please support: A Joint Petition Urgently Requesting Indoor Mask Requirement to Protect the Most Vulnerable in the U.S.

Friend,

I signed a joint petition on Action Network urgently requesting President Joe Biden and Director Walensky to recommend Indoor Mask Requirement to protect the most vulnerable in the U.S.

Over 100 million people are at increased risk of losing their health or lives in the United States, as explained in an open letter that has been submitted to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on April 22, 2022.  This letter has been cosigned by over a hundred medical professionals, scientists, as well as leaders and members of the public health advocacy community.

As of May 9, 2022, the CDC national COVID-19 forecasts predict 900–10,200 new COVID-19 hospitalizations will likely be reported on June 3. 1,700–6,700 new COVID-19 deaths will likely be reported during the week ending June 4. That would bring the projected total number of U.S. deaths to 1,005,000–1,018,000. It is in times like those that we must show our capacity to react rapidly. It is time to reinstate an indoor mask requirement to protect the most vulnerable among us, and protect everyone against Long Covid.

One third of the U.S. population have not received the 2nd dose of a COVID vaccine, not to mention the 3rd dose, which is critical for preventing deaths. As of May 10, only 46% of the vaccinated population are triple-vaccinated, which means more than half of the population are vulnerable to COVID-19, especially for children under 5 who do not have vaccines available for them! Indoor universal masking should be reinstated immediately to prevent the severe outcomes that affect people of all ages, especially people with certain medical conditions.

This pandemic has highlighted the venomous effect of healthcare inequities among racial and ethnic minority communities, driven by socioeconomic factors, lack of access to care due to medical disenfranchisement, the rampant propagation of misinformation targeted to BIPOC populations, lack of workplace safety standards, and racial bias in COVID care.

As a community, we joined together to stand up for the most vulnerable people in the U.S.

"As long as you have vulnerable people in the population, even though the unvaccinated are going to be much more at risk, vaccinated with underlying conditions and a high degree of susceptibility to severe disease will account for those deaths." Dr. Fauci said in an interview with ABC News.

Epidemiologist Priya Duggal said she masks up to protect herself from Long Covid. In an interview with WYPR, Priya Duggal, who leads the Johns Hopkins Long COVID study, warned that every new COVID infection could turn into Long COVID. More than 80 million Americans have contracted COVID-19, and as many as one-third were left with lingering symptoms. Many have been disabled by debilitating medical conditions.

"Those who experience the greatest burden should have the most power and say in alleviating it. Our nation’s response to COVID-19 goes against this tenet." Monica R. McLemore, PhD, RN, FAAN, a tenured associate professor at University of Washington, wrote in her op-ed in TIME magazine.

Covid-19 is preventable. In the world’s first large-scale randomized controlled trial on community masking and Covid-19, Yale Economic Growth Center affiliate Mushfiq Mobarak and coauthors from Innovations for Poverty Action and other organizations demonstrate that getting people to wear masks reduces community infection.

In addition, another study published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, which included 44 countries with a combined population of nearly 1 billion, finds face-covering mandates prevent excess COVID-19 deaths. Average COVID-19 mortality per million was 288.54 in countries without face mask policies and 48.40 in countries with face mask policies. The significant results of this retrospective cohort study, through observing mortality data between February 15 to May 31, 2020, prove that a unified national mask policy is a critical life-saving measure against airborne epidemics.

Ending this pandemic is greatly hindered by global vaccine inequity and vaccine hesitancy. The ongoing spread, and the emergence of new variants as a result, will continue to impact the poorest and most vulnerable people across all countries.

Abandoning masks is a recurring mistake. Reinstating the Mask Policy is necessary in order to stop the rising preventable death toll and end this global health crisis.

We demand that the CDC reverse course and strongly commend mitigation measures that are in the best interest of the most vulnerable communities in the U.S.

Thanks!

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MASK WITH US

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Additional Sponsors

COVID Safe Campus

Hood Medicine Initiative

Indianapolis, IN

MakeGoodTogether

COVID Safe MSU

East Lansing, MI

Marked By Covid

The World Health Network

COVID Survivors for Change

New York, NY

Thank you for signing this Joint Petition Urgently Requesting Indoor Mask Requirement to Protect the Most Vulnerable in the U.S.

Please ask everyone to join forces with us by cosigning as an individual and as an organization.

As a community, we joined together to stand up for the most vulnerable people among us.
Sign here: https://bit.ly/3Lt6wdx

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