President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris wore masks throughout their victorious campaign. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The masking up of America will depend on Biden’s ability to work with local governments and convince all Americans to wear them.

When President-elect Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination on August 20, he said part of his Covid-19 plan would be a “national mandate to wear a mask.” Five months later, on January 20, he’ll have his chance to try to implement one.

“It’s time to end the politicization of basic, responsible public health steps like mask-wearing and social distancing,” Biden said on Monday. “The single most effective thing we can do to stop the spread of Covid: Wear a mask.”

He followed that up with a tweet encouraging the use of masks:

I won’t be president until January 20th, but my message