The report is a review of other studies. It has not been peer-reviewed. There is no mention of vaccination in the report. I suppose I could read all of the studies reported on, but I am comfortable wearing a mask in public, and have read enough to be certain that good masks, properly used, are effective against COVID.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.28.22278153v1.full-text
From the report's discussion:
Some limitations include the fact that studies differed in terms of type of mask used/tested, inability to control for all circumstances wherein an individual subject could have been exposed to COVID-19, and inability to control for proper mask usage. There are also limitations based on the cutoff period for studies considered for statistical analysis (i.e. publication through July 2020). In addition, ethical standards precluded randomized controlled trials to determine rates of COVID-19 based upon mask usage.
Facemasks are rarely used as a sole means for infection prevention. Other preventative measures, such as distancing and hand hygiene, for example are typically used in conjunction with them. A possible avenue of future research would involve analysis of which measures are most effective when used in combination with facemasks. Additionally, there is considerable variability in regional laws that govern the use of facemasks. In some areas, facemasks are simply recommended by officials; whereas, in other areas there are legal and financial penalties for not wearing a facemask. Future investigations may study the effects of such legal mandates. Finally, this initial sample size was relatively small, and additional analysis will be warranted as more information becomes available.
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