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Do masks still help if you have a beard? How long is the COVID booster shot effective?

Dr. Frank McGeorge answers COVID questions

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Dr. Frank McGeorge has been keeping viewers up-to-date and informed on all fronts. He’s been answering your questions about the vaccine, the vaccination process and more.


Read: More answers to questions about coronavirus


I have a stuffy nose, cough and sore throat. Tested three times over a week. All negative. Is something going around other than COVID? I am staying home and getting better slowly.

It’s great that you’ve tested negative for COVID and have been staying home, COVID or not. It is winter in Michigan and lots of people also have run of the mill upper respiratory viruses as well. Now here are some more of your questions.

If someone has facial hair and wants to continue to have his facial hair, just how effective is it to wear these masks and what should we do?

This is an important point now that many people are using better N95, KN95 or KF94 masks. First off, when it comes to regular masks, studies show that having facial hair doesn’t really make much of a difference since they don’t generally have a perfect seal around the face to start with.

However, when it comes to N95, KN95 or KF94 masks, the seal they form around the face is critical to their performance and facial hair definitely impacts their effectiveness. A study from the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology specifically found that the type of high filtration mask and beard length made a difference. Because N95 masks use straps behind the head, they can still pull a mask more tightly against a bearded face and were more effective than KN95 and KF94 masks that use ear loops, especially as the beard length increased.

You should note that in this study, even with a beard length of 10 millimeters, the filtration was still better than using an ordinary mask, it just wasn’t as good as it would be without facial hair. Based on this study, trimming your beard so it isn’t as thick appears to help. The shape of your beard can also make a difference.

I haven’t heard any information on how long the booster works. When does it start to wane? It’s already been almost four months since I received my booster.

Data recently released from the U.K. found by three months, the booster only reduced the risk of a symptomatic infection by 50%. However, and this is critical, the booster provided about 80% protection against hospitalization even after four months.


Read: Complete Michigan COVID coverage


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About the Authors
Frank McGeorge, MD headshot

Dr. McGeorge can be seen on Local 4 News helping Metro Detroiters with health concerns when he isn't helping save lives in the emergency room at Henry Ford Hospital.

Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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