4th District Candidate Emily Burns Slams Calls For Mask Mandate

NEWTON, MA — Newton mom and businesswoman Emily Burns, who is running against Congressman Jake Auchincloss to represent Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District in the 2022 election, slammed calls for a statewide indoor mask mandate in a recent statement.

Burns, who is running as part of the Republican Party, has already publicly said she believes in getting rid of masks, especially in schools.

“Massachusetts has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, with 73% of the entire population fully vaccinated, and all who desire boosters, boosted,” said Burns. "With such extraordinary protection of all who wish to be protected, we must no longer be subject to the hysterical hectoring of unelected bureaucrats and medical societies who ignore real world data while they continue to shriek follow the science."

"The fact is, while there is mechanistic evidence to support the use of masks, the real world evidence paints a very different picture,” she continued. "The town of Newton—with 99%+ of its 30+ population vaccinated—re-instituted an indoor mask mandate at the beginning of September. There was no difference whatsoever between the case rates in Newton, and neighboring Wellesley, which did not institute a mask mandate. Testing rates were also indistinguishable.”

While Auchincloss has also said that one of his main goals for 2022 is to put COVID-19 behind us, he has advocated for the use of masks during surges and is currently championing vaccines as the main method of recovery in the state. Burns, on the other hand, argues that the safety policies implemented over the last two years have done more harm than good.

“Medical bureaucrats and medical societies have broken their oath to 'first, do no harm,’ she said. "They continue to recommend these do-nothing, feel-good solutions that our politicians glom onto in an effort to be perceived as 'doing something,’ she said. First it was masks, then it was vaccines, now it’s masks again. I’m running because I believe we the people need to hold the politicians who continue to implement these facile, harmful policies, rather than taking the time to understand the problems, and provide effective policies accountable.”

Burns plans to begin touring communities all over the district in January to hear about how people’s lives have changed since the start of the pandemic. For more information, click here.