Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifting coronavirus restrictions and an increasing number of Americans getting vaccinated, overreactions to COVID-19 appear to be just as prevalent as ever.
Airlines ended up being some of the worse offenders when it comes to masks. One Colorado mom told Fox & Friends in early May that her family was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight because they were afraid her disabled three-year-old son would remove his mask.
Caroline Scott said that her son, Orion, has sensory processing disorder, making him more sensitive to things like touch and smell than others. He had worked hard with an occupational therapist in order to be able to wear a mask and was doing well with it, she told Fox News. She told Southwest about her son’s disability in advance, and despite saying on the phone that it wouldn’t be an issue, her family was kicked off the flight over fears that her son might remove his mask, according to Scott.
“We were discriminated against,” she said. “So the supervisor in front of a plane full of people said ‘I’m sorry your family needs to get off the plane. The captain does not feel comfortable with your family on it today.'”
Another family found themselves in a similar situation when Spirit Airlines kicked them off a flight in March. Callie Kimball said that her four-year-old son, Carter Kimball, was diagnosed with nonverbal autism and had a doctor’s note exempting him from wearing a mask. Despite Carter’s father telling employees that his son had a disability, Callie said that the father-son duo was still forced to get off the plane.
Carter and his father were left stranded in Las Vegas and had to pay $1,000 for new tickets on American Airlines, which reportedly accepted the mask exemption with no problems. (RELATED: Did Coronavirus Come From A Lab? Ten Key Takeaways From A Shocking New Report)
STORY: 4-year old Carter is non-verbal on the spectrum. He loves planes but he hates masks.
His mother says He & his father were kicked off of a @SpiritAirlines flight in Las Vegas even with a doctors note.
WATCH FULL: https://t.co/fC3Fwnubdo pic.twitter.com/R2GzzydxhJ
— Jade Jackson (@IAMJADEJACKSON) March 16, 2021
The mask craziness continued even when a handful of liberal outlets said that wearing a mask outdoors was unnecessary due to the low rate of outdoor transmission. Slate, The New Republic, and The Atlantic all published articles arguing against outdoor mask mandates and were promptly accused of trying to get people killed.
“I am astonished with what ease you’re spreading information that will kill people,” one commentator wrote. Another said that they reported the article to Twitter for “COVID misinformation.” One person asked Slate why they wanted “old people to die.”
MSNBC host Joy Reid also refused t0 accept that it was okay to go outside without a mask – she said on her April 27 show that she wears two masks while outside jogging in the park, despite being fully vaccinated. The unwillingness from some Americans to take their masks off certainly isn’t being helped by our elected officials, either – Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff, who are both fully vaccinated, were seen kissing each other with their masks on.
Even when the CDC announced Thursday that fully vaccinated people could remove their masks in most circumstances, many people weren’t ready to accept it.
“I really think you are risking lives here to appease a few,” one person wrote on Twitter. Another called the updated guidance “frustrating” and said they have to go back to not taking their children into “enclosed public spaces.”
“Meanwhile we have no idea how many variants are now in the US and if the vaccines work against them,” someone said. “SMDH. I’m keeping my mask thanks.” (RELATED: Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Effective Against Common New York Variant, Research Shows)
“Keeping my mask on,” one person wrote. “Even though vaxxed. Thanks. Masking makes sense. Hell, I love it.”
Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair posted a video on Twitter in January that showed two women harassing two men on a train for not wearing their masks while drinking coffee.
At the beginning of the video, one of the women says that she has 70,000 Twitter followers.
These mask-fanatic women from hell started filming & harassing these men for drinking coffee on the train
The older one said “I have 70,000 Twitter followers” like the men should be scared ????
People have lost their damn minds.
If you’re that scared, DON’T TRAVEL— STAY HOME! pic.twitter.com/stivaBDfTR
— Ashley St. Clair ???????? (@stclairashley) January 5, 2021
“You have 70,000 Twitter followers?” St. Clair responded. “That means nothing, you’re still being very rude. These men are just drinking coffee. They’re allowed to have a mask off when they’re drinking.”
“They weren’t wearing masks,” one of the women said. Later, the train conductor gets involved and tells the women that they have to go back to their seats or he will call the police.