btw the "bare minimum decency" thing to do when a disabled person tells you to wear a mask is to wear a fucking mask instead of arguing or ignoring or gaslighting or soft blocking or blocking them. you're not an ally to disabled people (or PoGM especially Black people, who are hit the hardest by covid, source in link below) if you don't mask and if you are disabled yourself and you go out in large crowds without masking you are not an ally to your fellow disabled people. wear a mask, n95+ (cloth and surgical don't work for covid), in public.
if you are literally physically incapable of masking, don't go to superspreader events (but the VAST majority of people who aren't masking, Can and choose not to). just. please. i am so fucking sick of begging people to care enough if i live or die to take two seconds to put on a mask. one-way masking is miles better than not masking but it doesn't adequately protect immunocompromised people so we are forced to stay at home in self enforced lockdowns or risk death every time we go out. i know the social stigma sucks but this is literally a matter of life or death. maybe you didn't know before but you do now and it is your responsibility to mask. asymptomatic infections are just as if not more contagious than symptomatic infections. you can't assume you don't have it because you don't feel sick.
and you, the person reading this post, aren't immune either, covid is the third leading cause of death in the US (and a leading cause of death in many if not most other countries) and this includes young and healthy people. COVID fucks up your body worse every time you get it and YOU are immunocompromised if you've had COVID before. it's only a matter of time and repeat infections until you end up with organ damage and/or anhedonia and/or severe chronic pain and/or early onset dementia and/or cancer and/or countless other horrible afflictions and/or dead and if you do not mask you are responsible for spreading these things to other people. (85+ sources)
if you have sensory or other issues and need help finding a good mask for you, send me an ask and i will help you find one. read this post for recs including sources for free masks and read this post for more information on covid including more sources to the info in this post
we all know our governments don't give a shit if we live or die and we already know they're willing to let entire populations die (or kill them themselves) if it makes them a profit. covid is not an exception. we MUST take care of each other.
to those who have been masking this whole time and are sick and tired of being gaslit and talked over and ignored, i'm right there with you and we will get through this together. to those who stopped and started again once you realized how bad things were, and those who switched from cloth/surgical to n95, good on you for doing the right thing. it matters. to those who stopped masking, it is Never too late to start protecting yourself and those around you again. it's never too late to mask again!!
wanna add that there are p100 elastomerics that make ur one way masking a little safer too.
the
gvs elipse p100
jelli m1 mask (default filters are n95 but i thiiiink they have a p100 option
and the Flo mask (same deal, n95 default filters but p100's are available
gvs is only carried by amazon, and the jelli m1 has a window so ppl can see ur lips, and is i think also the cheapest option rn. flo is really really good and comfy to wear but also the most expensive
This is my favorite. It's a little bit on the pricier side, but it's extremely comfy for long-term wear and it seals well very easily. You'll have to find an industrial PPE seller (such as fastenal or duraware) in your area/will deliver to you, but at ~$60 for a P100, you could only buy about 2-3 packs of 3M Auras. It pays for itself quickly and can give you more thorough protection from airborne pathogens in high-risk scenarios that can overwhelm N95s.
thank you both so much for adding this!
about the jelli-m, unfortunately that mask is a scam and it does not protect you :( they have lied to people about being fda certified when they aren't, lied about having 99.7% protection when they were only tested for surgical mask equivalent and were not tested at all for sealing (another source about them lying x ). absolutely despicable that companies are trying to capitalize on disabled people's suffering and deaths.
it should be noted that the jelli-m has only earloops and that masks with earloops in general usually do not seal well; this is why n95s are much better. if you only have kn95s available, you can get a better seal by using bandaids or medical tape to cover gaps and over the bridge of your nose!
the masking page on the people's CDC shows tips on getting a good seal as well as how to tell if a mask is counterfeit.
the dentec safety comfort p100 is another half-face respirator that filters over 99%
here is the flo mask testing data; both filters are actually only kn95 certified, but in the tests the pro filtered above 98%, so not quite p100 but close.
the envo mask is another n95 certified elastomeric (testing data); not a p100 but if fit tested, the elastomeric material can seal better than disposable n95s (it must be fit tested though, as with all masks!). the envo original is a quarter face like the flo, which often don't seal as well as half face respirators, and the envo pro is a half face. they do have an n99 mask but it has an exhalation valve so it won't adequately protect those around you; i've heard rumors they're working on an n99 with two-way filtration, but not of any time frame.