Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner’s daughter calls for mask mandates at UN — five years after pandemic
Violet Affleck, daughter of actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, delivered a passionate speech at the United Nations this week, calling for renewed global attention to mask mandates and airborne disease prevention measures. The 19-year-old Yale University freshman spoke at the “Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action” event held at UN Headquarters in New York City.
Wearing a KN95 mask, Violet highlighted what she sees as a continued failure to address the risks of COVID-19 and Long COVID, five years after the initial outbreak. She criticized the global rollback of public health measures, warning that the world has become complacent in the face of ongoing transmission.
“We are told by leaders across the board that we are the future,” she said. “But, when it comes to the ongoing pandemic, our present is being stolen right in front of our eyes.”
Violet, who has publicly shared her experience with a post-viral condition she contracted in 2019, argued that the removal of mask mandates came too soon and without adequate consideration for long-term health risks. She expressed frustration with what she described as a societal rush to return to normalcy, saying it overlooks both the airborne nature of COVID-19 and the long-term consequences of repeated infections.
“Young people lacked both real choice in the matter and information about what was being chosen for us,” she told attendees.
While some studies — including a widely cited Cochrane Library review — have questioned the effectiveness of public masking policies, Violet referenced scientific evidence showing SARS-CoV-2 is primarily transmitted through the air and can linger in indoor spaces. She warned that even a single infection can potentially cause lasting harm to multiple organ systems, including the brain, heart, and nervous system.
“Every subsequent infection increases the risk of long COVID and places people who already have it in greater danger,” she said, citing Yale immunologist Dr. Akiko Iwasaki. She noted that within five years, long COVID had become more prevalent than asthma among young children.
Violet expressed concern for children growing up amid continued transmission, saying many may “never know a world without debilitating pain and exhaustion.”
“I am furious on their behalf. It is a neglect of the highest order to look children in the eyes and say, ‘We knew how to protect you and we didn’t do it.’”
She drew a parallel to past public health battles, such as the movement to ban indoor smoking, recalling her own childhood confusion about “no smoking” signs on airplanes. “Who would do that? That’s gross,” she recalled thinking.
“My hope,” she said, “is that we can recognize filtered air as a human right, as intuitively as we do filtered water. We can create clean air infrastructure that is so ubiquitous and obviously necessary, that tomorrow’s children don’t even know why we need it.”
Violet has been a vocal advocate for public health protections in recent years. In 2023, she spoke at a Los Angeles city board meeting to demand stronger mask policies in hospitals and increased investment in personal protective equipment. She has also contributed to the Yale Global Health Review, writing about local pandemic response and climate change issues.
Violet is the eldest of three children shared by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, who divorced in 2015. Her siblings, Seraphina and Samuel, are 15 and 12, respectively.
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