Do I Still Have to Wear a Mask?

Even after I got a trial Covid-19 vaccine?

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story September 19, 2020 Illustration by Tomi Un The Ethicist I Got a Trial Covid-19 Vaccine. Do I Still Have to Wear a Mask? The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on whether participating in a vaccine trial means you can act as if you’re part of an “immune elite” — and more. By Kwame Anthony Appiah My wife and I are participating in a clinical trial for a Covid-19 vaccine. We had no antibodies before we received the vaccine, but we now have a lot of them, according to two independent tests. Presumably we are like millions of others who have recovered from Covid-19 and have these antibodies, and so are immune for some time. At what point can I feel comfortable, ethically, not wearing a mask, being with others who haven’t had Covid, eating at a restaurant, going to a bar, traveling to locations with restrictions on “hot spot” visitors and the like? I don’t want to be an “immune elite,” but I do want to begin a normal life again. Perhaps I have “earned” this by taking a risk and getting the vaccine? And perhaps others have “earned” this for having caught and recovered from the coronavirus? Read the Ethicist’s response here. THIS WEEK’S MAGAZINE Meridith Kohut for The New York Times   How Climate Migration Will Reshape America Millions will be displaced in the coming decades by fires, hurricanes, extreme heat and rising seas. Where will they go? By Abrahm Lustgarten Clifford Prince King for The New York Times   What Happened Inside Ed Buck’s Apartment? Two men died of meth overdoses at the home of a West Hollywood political donor. Dark conspiracy theories abounded— but the truth is even darker. By Jesse Barron     How the Black Vote Became a Monolith Why do a vast majority of Black Americans, despite our diverse politics, vote the same? Because our rights are always on the ballot. By Theodore R. Johnson and posters by Kennedy Prints Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT MORE FROM THE MAGAZINE Photograph by Heami Lee. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.   Eat Everything You Love About Tomatoes, Amplified Rich, vegetal and just a little bit sweet, this slow-roasted tomato made me fully understand why tomatoes are a fruit. By Dorie Greenspan Screenland Do Viral Videos Really Tell You Anything About Today’s Teens? A teenager’s musings about math went viral, activating a whole ecosystem of online debate. It all said a lot less about her than about the world around her. By Sophie Haigney Illustration by Ina Jang   Diagnosis He Had Recurring Pain for Nearly a Decade The muscles from his buttock down to his calf felt as if they were on fire. He saw countless specialists, but nothing really seemed to help. What could it possibly be? By Lisa Sanders, M.D.     Will This Be a Lost Year for America’s Children? As students across the country start school, education experts reckon with the long-term implications of remote learning, vanishing resources and heightened inequality. Photo illustration by Bráulio Amado   Talk John Cusack Never Understood His Cusackness “Perhaps in a way, I had my own brand. I would have denied it, because that would be pretty unartistic.” By David Marchese Ted Aljibe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images   At War He Killed a Transgender Woman in the Philippines. Why Was He Freed? The pardon of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton by President Rodrigo Duterte is the final chapter in a case that reignited debate over old defense treaties. By Corinne Redfern     Poem: Late A poem that reminds us there is so much in our nation that still needs to change. By Joseph Ross and Naomi Shihab Nye Stay in touch: Follow us on Twitter (@NYTmag) or check us out on Instagram. Appreciated this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow. Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com. Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter. Listen to narrated versions of our articles every week. Download Audm for iPhone or Android. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for The New York Times Magazine from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018