The H1N1 Influenza pandemic of 2009 spread to more than 208 countries worldwide and infected at least 622,000 people. In this brief, Ben Outten compares the public health responses to the 2009 pandemic and the MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia to responses during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Outten considers how general familiarity with the flu as a disease may have impacted the implementation of face mask regulations.