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other people don't know you've been vaccinated. It promotes generally socially responsible behavior.

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None of the vaccines are 100% effective.

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Double-masking — specifically, wearing a surgical mask underneath a cloth mask — may provide an extremely high level of protection against the viral particles that cause Covid-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.

A year into the pandemic, the report is the first from the CDC that breaks down how well certain mask-wearing techniques work to protect wearers and those around them.

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In the new CDC report, researchers found that in "simulated breathing" experiments, a surgical mask alone blocked 42 percent of particles small enough to be considered "most important for transmitting SARS-CoV-2." One cloth mask did not fare much better, blocking about 44 percent of particles from an unmasked individual.

Double-masking, with a surgical mask and a cloth mask, they found, upped the protection for the wearer significantly, blocking 83 percent of small particles from an unmasked individual.

And "knotting and tucking" a surgical mask reduced a person's exposure to viral particles by about 65 percent....

Brooks said his team was focused less on the material, and more on the fit of masks. While multiple layers may be important, the new research suggests it's really the fit of the mask that's key. "Both of those proved effective in the experimental simulations that we ran," Brooks said.

And protection increased even more when more people wore masks.

If two people are both wearing either the knotted and tucked surgical masks, or if both are double-masked, exposure to viral particles was cut by more than 95 percent.

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Hospitals spent the weekend scrambling to identify and replace counterfeit N95 respirators after learning Friday that fraudulent personal protective equipment had been distributed throughout the state for use by medical workers.

“We spent the weekend collecting the counterfeit masks, switching out to a different mask and fit-testing our staff,” said June Altaras, the Senior Vice President and Chief Quality, Safety, and Nursing Officer for the MultiCare Health System, during a news briefing held Monday by WSHA.

Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington Hospital Association (WSHA) estimated that roughly 2 million fraudulent N95 respirators were distributed to hospitals statewide. The organization has been working with hospitals since Friday to keep the fraudulent masks, which falsely appeared to be manufactured by 3M, out of circulation. Federal investigators within the Department of Homeland Security notified the hospital association Friday of the counterfeit respirators.

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Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

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Originally posted by RealPlayer:
Yes. I've had one vaccination and keep wearing mine. Actually the word is we should be wearing two at once now.

Actually, wear an N95 or KN95.

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Originally posted by RealPlayer:
Well, the side effects have set in. 101 degree fever and chills, but they say this is to be expected. My wife has no side effects.