When Do We Call the Pandemic “Over” in the United States?

Soon? Or never?

Most of the people I know are done with the pandemic. I am not saying that they are right, or that the pandemic is actually over, or that there are not still people suffering, or that we’re not still averaging nearly 300 Covid-19 deaths a day. I am just saying that in my social circle, hardly anyone is thinking about the pandemic anymore.

My social circle is a selective and not necessarily representative one, to be sure. Every single person I see on a regular or semi-regular basis has been fully vaccinated and has generally taken the pandemic seriously from the beginning. There are obviously millions of people who aren’t vaccinated — one-third of adults in this country at this point — and I’m sure I have run into them at the airport, or at a sporting event. But I don’t personally know any of them. My people are vaxxed. And they are acting accordingly.

If I’m being honest: So am I. I’m eating in restaurants’ dining rooms. I’m happily hanging out indoors at my friends’ places, and having them over at mine. I’m going to every sporting event I can. I’m seeing friends and family I haven’t seen in more than a year. If a place of business does not demand masks for entry, and the staff itself is not wearing them, I do not wear one. I still carry a mask with me when I am out, and…