President Joe Biden has asked Americans to embrace mask-wearing for at least the first 100 days of his administration, an effort to stanch the spread of COVID-19. Many Americans say they are amenable and supportive, but that doesn't mean you'll see many of them actually wearing masks.

An online poll, conducted by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, found that a majority of Americans believe wearing masks is an effective way to protect themselves from COVID-19, but only half of those surveyed said they mostly or always wear a mask when they are within six feet of non-household persons.

White people were the least likely to mask up (46%), compared with Black people (67%), Latinos (63%) and people of other races (65%). One exception was at the grocery store. Of persons polled who shop at grocery stores, 90% said they always wear a mask.

Body of Knowledge

There are likely trillions of virus species in the world. A few hundred thousand are known; fewer than 7,000 have names.

Get Me That, Stat!

In March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was intensifying, Americans purchased 2 million guns, the busiest month for firearm sales since January 2013.

Mark Your Calendar

February is awareness month for heart health, age-related macular degeneration, prenatal infection prevention and children's dental health. Of course, it's good to be aware of these things the rest of the year, too.

Counts

1 in 4: ratio of doctors who report harassment on social media platforms

Source: JAMA Internal Medicine

Stories for the Waiting Room

ICYMI: California law now requires doctors to submit an electronic form to public health officials when granting a medical exemption to a child to skip vaccines that are mandatory for school attendance.

It's a refinement of a 2020 law that allows state public health officials to review all medical exemptions at schools where fewer than 95% of students are vaccinated, when doctors who submit five or more exemptions in one year and when schools fail to share vaccination rates.

California only permits exemptions based on a medical assessment that a vaccine poses a health risk to the child. There are no personal or religious exemptions.

Doc Talk

Dactylion: the tip of the middle finger. Oddly, none of the ends of the other fingers have names.

Phobia of the Week

Amaxophobia: fear of riding in a car

Never Say Diet

The Major League Eating speed-eating record for brats is 101 2.3-ounce brats in 10 minutes, held by Carmen Cincotti.

Best Medicine

A nurse at a doctor's office called a patient to let him know the results from his blood tests. She said he was "just fine." The man wasn't satisfied.

"What's my cholesterol level?" he asked.

"Sir, you are just fine," replied the nurse.

"I want you to mail me the results," insisted the man.

A few days later, the man received a postcard from his doctor's office. It read, "You are just fine."

Observation

"After you find out all the things that can go wrong, your life becomes less about living and more about waiting." — Chuck Palahniuk, author of "Choke" (2001)

Medical History

This week in 1962, the USS Diamond Head set sail for Africa from Newport News, Virginia. Its passengers were medical workers equipped with the newly invented vaccination gun: "pistola de la paz" or "pistol of peace." Their mission was to conduct the first field trials of the device invented by Robert Hingson. It used a "jet" injector, which enabled more efficient mass inoculations without need of needles and syringes. Hingson thought the most important benefit of the hypospray was that it did not frighten children undergoing vaccination nearly as much as did needles.

Med School

Q: What are the hallux and the minimus?

A: Your big toe and your little (pinky) toe.

Curtain Calls

In 1993, Finnish obstetrician Dr. Arvo Nikula was holding a newborn upside down for the traditional spank when the child kicked him hard in the right temple, triggering a fatal hemorrhage.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: coyot at Pixabay