The reason masks are still necessary is because the population of the USA is completely protected. I received both of my doses of Moderna COVID-19 and it is peace of mind that I didn't have before my vaccinations. The reason there are variants is that countries did not shut down the country to end the spread of the virus. If every country shut down as did New Zealand the global population would not be facing these problems today.
The previous administration never secured the shutdown that ended the spread in the early stages. If the USA was setting the example with an effective shutdown there would not be huge problem globally today.
