Coronavirus Masks & Children: Some Democrats Don’t Want to End Mandates

Are we at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning on masking children? It depends on which Democrats you ask.

Last week vaccines against COVID-19 were approved for five- to eleven-year-olds. And Republicans were swept into local and state offices in several states known for their tough COVID-era restrictions on children. New York governor Kathy Hochul, who recently re-extended mask mandates down to two-year-old children, suddenly erupted with a vision that perhaps school mask mandates would end when a majority of children are vaccinated. This was decidedly new. An exit ramp. Even the new New York mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, said that, though he wanted to follow the science, he also wanted to see the mask mandates end by January 1. Without citing a peer-reviewed double-blind study, Adams said, “Not being able to see the smiles of our children has a major impact.” And without the blessing of public-health officials and their pronouncements, he even ventured the commonsensical thought that masks may be inhibiting friendships among children.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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Are we at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning on masking children? It depends on which Democrats you ask.

Last week vaccines against COVID-19 were approved for five- to eleven-year-olds. And Republicans were swept into local and state offices in several states known for their tough COVID-era restrictions on children. New York governor Kathy Hochul, who recently re-extended mask mandates down to two-year-old children, suddenly erupted with a vision that perhaps school mask mandates would end when a majority of children are vaccinated. This was decidedly new. An exit ramp. Even the new New York mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, said that, though he wanted to follow the science, he also wanted to see the mask mandates end by January 1. Without citing a peer-reviewed double-blind study, Adams said, “Not being able to see the smiles of our children has a major impact.” And without the blessing of public-health officials and their pronouncements, he even ventured the commonsensical thought that masks may be inhibiting friendships among children.