When Gov. Lujan Grisham lifted the mask mandate for most of the state last week, many people asked why she would do this without basing it on scientific evidence. After all, she had stood up against withering criticism for the past two years because the science said that wearing masks was the best way to fight against Covid.

After the vaccine came out, we thought we would get past this virus, but Republicans have worked tirelessly to make sure people were skeptical of taking the vaccine. Many Republicans have refused to take the vaccine, saying it is not safe to put in their bodies, despite the fact that every one of them has taken vaccines multiple times in the past with no issues.

Republicans need a political hot potato to aim at Democrats, because they have no policy agenda to promote and the Democrats are busy helping their constituents, protecting and improving lives, bolstering the economy, and creating jobs.

Thanks to the Republican effort to politicize this deadly virus, we have not been able to achieve herd immunity when it was possible to defeat this virus forever. Now, herd immunity is no longer possible and we have to live with this deadly virus, thanks again to the Republicans. And so we have continued to live with mask mandates since the Delta scourge of last summer and the Omnicron variant that followed on its heels.

With 2022 being an election year, MLG needed to eliminate the mask mandate asap. Since covid’s transmission rate remains high in New Mexico, why was now a good time to remove the mandate? Is there a scientific reason to support the governor’s decision?

In my view, and in the view of many, many strongly worded emails I get, people feel like the state is in a position now to transfer the responsibility for decision making about personal interventions and protections for one’s own self, family, and community, to individuals, families, and communities, and away from the state. While I’m not a particularly political person, I actually agree with that perspective.”

So now the decision to mask is left up to us as individuals. I’m keeping my mask on because I am immunocompromised and I have elderly parents to care for. I know many who are as well. As Omnicron cases continue to fall, lifting the mask mandate has been inevitable. Whether it happened last week or next week is a very minor point.

We applaud our governor for holding firm on our mask mandate when it mattered, and for removing it as soon as was reasonably possible. We are confident that, if we see a return of a new covid variant, our governor will do the right thing based on science as she always has in the past.

Read more about the governor’s decision, with differing points-of-view at this link:Source NM