As we near June 2026, it’s disturbingly apparent from social media and the real world that there are still a ridiculous number of people who are religiously masking in public. One such post on X received an inordinate amount of attention as one man bragged about masking at the British Museum in London to keep himself healthy and avoid losing points of IQ.
Seriously. As if someone wearing a mask halfway through 2026 has IQ points left to lose.
But that continued dedication to masking of any kind is not merely the result of unintelligence, or misplaced hypochondria, or even being affiliated with a specific political party. Though, of course, all of that doesn’t hurt..
It’s a result of the concerted effort to promote masks, courtesy of the media, politicians and most importantly, research either conducted or promulgated by the CDC.
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And we have some data on just how damaging that practice actually was.
Three researchers, two of whom have since gone on to bigger and better successes, Vinay Prasad and Tracey Beth Hoeg, explained in detail how committed the CDC was to promoting masks.
Their study titled, “An analysis of studies pertaining to masks in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Characteristics and quality of all studies from 1978 to 2023,” looked at the CDC’s weekly publication over 45 years, and how it covered the data and evidence on this topic.
And in case there were any remaining doubts that masks never had the slightest chance of stopping respiratory viruses, of the studies that met their inclusion criteria, all of them came after 2019. Not one was published prior to 2019.
“77 studies, all published after 2019, met our inclusion criteria,” they write. “75/77 (97.4%) studies were from the United States alone. All geographic regions and age groups were represented.”
Here’s another remarkable fact that they discovered. Nearly 30% of the studies covered in their reference set did not have a comparative group.
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“The most common study design was observational without a comparator group 22/77 (28.6%),” they explain. Observational studies, as a reminder, are among the least meaningful types of evidence-based research.
But that’s made even worse by the fact that a significant portion of these observational studies did not even have a comparison group. The CDC was posting research based on observations without anything to compare it to. And using it as proof of their position. Seriously.
They also found that nearly half of this research was conducted in the community, but quite literally zero were randomized.
“The most common setting was the community (35/77;45.5%). 0/77 were randomized studies,” they explained.
So zero randomized trials, and 30% of all CDC published research was an observational study with nothing to compare it to. This is the very definition of low quality research. Here’s where it gets good. Only 30% of the studies, or 23/77, even attempted to test for mask effectiveness. And just 14.3%, or 11/77, contained a “statistically significant result.” Yet a whopping 75.3%, 58/77, “stated masks were effective.”
The CDC referenced low-quality research that was often observational in nature, with no comparisons and zero randomized trials. And yet 75.3% of the time, that low-quality research claimed masks were effective at stopping COVID.
And incredibly, 71% of the studies “used causal language” to sell their work; basically stating that their research showed that masks cause COVID to spread less frequently, despite there being no scientific justification for such a statement. That right there is the formula for how to reach the year 2026 with people still wearing masks.
But wait. There’s more.
Not one study cited to randomized data. And just one mannequin study correctly discussed the lack of causal relationship, while only 1/77 studies “cited conflicting evidence.”
Essentially, the MMWR publications referenced research that overstated their claims, exaggerated evidence, and made causal links where none exists.
If you’re wondering why those scientists involved would do such a thing, it’s because they likely wanted to get their work published by the CDC. Or because the research may have been funded by the CDC and the authors potentially knew or assumed the conclusion they were supposed to reach. The CDC said masks work, therefore they needed research to make that claim a reality.
“MMWR publications pertaining to masks drew positive conclusions about mask effectiveness over 75% of the time despite only 30% testing masks and <15% having statistically significant results,” they summarize. “No studies were randomized, yet over half drew causal conclusions. The level of evidence generated was low and the conclusions drawn were most often unsupported by the data. Our findings raise concern about the reliability of the journal for informing health policy.”
It’s easy to forget just how insane the timeline on masking was, so as a refresher, here’s how the CDC handled their masking recommendations and mandates. Including a reference to the infamous “hairstylist study,” where the organization breathlessly reported the results of two masked hairstylists as some sort of proof that masks stopped COVID.
“In March of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not generally recommend mask wearing for healthy people, consistent with the advice from the US Surgeon General,” they write. “Over several weeks in March and early April 2020, a coordinated social media campaign to recommend masks began. Then on April 3rd, 2020, the CDC recommended people ages 2 years and older wear a cloth face covering in public. On July 15th, 2020, the CDC Director recommended all Americans start wearing masks as a way to ‘get the epidemic under control,’ citing a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly (MMWR) study involving two hairstylists in Missouri. That coming Fall of 2020, universal masking in schools and daycares was recommended by the CDC and widespread mandates were enacted at the state, district and county levels for children as young as two. Masking on public transportation was required by federal mandate starting January of 2021.”
That is how important the MMWR was in advancing these specific goals. They referenced it to justify widespread mandates, toddler masking, and it informed state and local policies that impacted millions for years on end. Then, consider just how much of the CDC’s published research, the “voice” of the organization, was deemed “inappropriate.”
If you’re looking for reasons why trust in “science” has never been lower, this is it. And again, this messaging is quite literally dangerous.
Parents may be masking their children because the CDC continuously published shoddy research meant to support their unjustifiable policy positions. How many adults will live the rest of their lives in fear because the media covered these studies in support of their ideology, political party, and belief in “experts” and Anthony Fauci.
As they write in the discussion, “MMWR studies consistently drawing conclusions about mask effectiveness without supporting evidence is particularly problematic and difficult to justify considering the totality of randomized evidence about the use of surgical or N95 masks to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses has been negative.”
“The inappropriate use of causal language used in MMWR studies was also adopted directly by the CDC director when she cited an observational phone survey, which also happened to be included in the present analysis, stating to the public ‘Masks can help reduce your chance of #COVID19 infection by more than 80%.’ This referenced study found an association between respondents’ recollection about mask wearing and self-reported COVID-19 tests, which was non-significant for cloth masks.”
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This is how you launder bad information through the media. There was no justification for the claim Rochelle Walensky made about masking. She was well aware, yet said it anyway. What else would you expect from someone double masking, defiantly rejecting reality and common sense?
High quality evidence said masks didn’t work, which is why objective reviews like the Cochrane Library came to the same conclusion: that masks don’t work.
The CDC’s MMWR used low quality evidence to effectively mislead people. That’s exactly how you lose trust, cause harm, and invite much damage to your reputation.
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