Biden made a wise choice to forego the mask
I fully understand your worry, RL. But Biden's first speech as President (elect) had to be 100% reassuring, and even though we understand the mask intellectually, it would have undermined Biden in our scared little psyches. As I posted above, when I watched Biden speech, I didn't really hear the words, and couldn't tell you specifically what he said. But I bathed in aura of a good guy getting to work.
Wapo had an opinion piece with a title that sums it up: "Biden picked up the weight of the presidency and much of the nation set down its burdens".