Led by Not-That-Kind-of-Doctor Barbara Ferrer, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Thursday that an indoor mask mandate will be reinstated – regardless of vaccination status – because of a “surge” in cases and the Delta variant in the county. The surge is so concerning that residents will be allowed to go maskless for two more days (yes, that’s sarcasm).

👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/1sjIVp6uS1

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) July 15, 2021

Yes, there’s been a spike, but even some of the city’s most liberal journalists are putting the numbers into perspective.

COVID SPREADING AGAIN:
Hospitalizations in LA County jump 11% overnight, now up to 452, highest they’ve been since April 22. They’re up 41% in a week.(Perspective is important though. The number was 8,098 on Jan 5.)@ABC7

— Jory Rand (@ABC7Jory) July 15, 2021

How is this mandate going to have any effect at all? The vaccines are allegedly effective against all variants, and 61 percent of Los Angeles County adults are fully vaccinated in addition to the 1,235,000 people in the county who had COVID-19 and recovered.  And, we already know there are serious issues with the argument that masks prevent transmission (things like distancing are more important). Also, if the push is to get vaccinated so you can get your life back, how is reinstating a mask mandate going to help those who are hesitant? In addition, if there is scientific evidence showing that we must mask up indoors regardless of vaccination status to prevent transmission of variants, wouldn’t the CDC attempt to enact such a rule nationally, or wouldn’t the California Department of Public Health enact such a rule statewide?

We know the California DPH won’t enact such a rule statewide because of the pending recall election against Gavin Newsom. Newsom has to be completely peeved about Los Angeles County’s action, but it’s naive to think that he couldn’t stop it. Newsom’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, is married to Dr. Christina Ghaly, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

There’s a growing messaging point in this country along the lines of, “Well, the more variants there are, the less effective the vaccines are,” and that seems to be the reasoning LA County is relying on. But how scientific is that? A Wall Street Journal article, “The Reassuring Data on the Delta Variant,” reports:

A new study from the U.K. found that vaccines are still incredibly effective at preventing serious illness with the Delta variant circulating. The Pfizer vaccine was 96% effective after two doses at preventing hospitalization, meaning the average unvaccinated person in the study was more than 25 times as likely to be hospitalized with Covid as the average vaccinated one. (This almost certainly understates the protectiveness of the vaccine, as the vaccinated cohort was older and had a higher incidence of pre-existing conditions than the unvaccinated one.) The Johnson & Johnson vaccine produces strong neutralizing antibodies and cellular responses against the Delta variant, still present eight months after administration.

Studies from Canada and the U.K. show 79% to 87% effectiveness against symptomatic infection with the Delta variant.

Well, that’s promising. But a Twitter thread by Dr. Kelly Victory describes where the problem might lie. First, Victory states that people who have recovered from COVID-19 aren’t contracting any of the variants.

No, you do not need to worry about the #DeltaVariant. People who have had and recovered from #COVID19 have immunity that is broad, robust and enduring. Covid recovered people are not contracting ANY of the variants. #FactsNotFear https://t.co/hcYqqyAFlY

— Kelly Victory MD (@DrKellyVictory) July 15, 2021

But, “vaccine induced antibodies are highly specific to a single spike protein as opposed to antibodies that result from having contracted and recovered from the virus.”

It depends; vaccine induced antibodies are highly specific to a single spike protein, as opposed to antibodies that result from having contracted and recovered from the virus. Natural immunity is far broader and far more likely to protect against variants. #FactsNotFear https://t.co/Al14Wxm7R3

— Kelly Victory MD (@DrKellyVictory) July 15, 2021

Oh.

Will people comply? According to an ongoing poll Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin posted on Twitter (which is at least as scientific as this mask mandate), the answer is no.