End All COVID Restrictions

N ot long ago, it was hard to get a vaccine. The shots were in short supply and reserved for the most vulnerable populations. Not long before that, vaccines weren’t available at all, and one COVID wave after another was killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.

I supported the initial lockdowns, hoping they would buy us time to find other ways to keep the virus at bay. I then continued to support lighter, more-targeted restrictions later in the pandemic.

But now that vaccines are widely available, it’s time to start ending all of that. Outside of very rare scenarios, such as when someone is allergic to the ingredients, vaccines turn vulnerability to COVID into a personal choice.

We should not be imposing restrictions on Americans to protect those who’ve chosen to put themselves at risk — and who, disproportionately, oppose the restrictions just as much as they distrust the vaccines anyway. We also should not impose restrictions in deference to the folks who have managed to become addicted to the thrill of being stricter than everyone else about COVID protocols, even long after they’ve been vaccinated.

I get my own second Pfizer shot tomorrow. Technically, I won’t be “fully” protected for two weeks, but the first dose by itself becomes incredibly effective after just eleven days. Across several states, everyone I know who’s a bit older than I am — and thus really has something to worry about if they get infected — has been vaccinated for some time.

I am completely done caring about COVID. Face it. It’s over. Get back to normal.

Just look at the basic facts here.

These vaccines are awesome. They provide nearly complete protection against the most severe cases. They block transmission, too. And yes, the vaccines are effective even against those dreaded “variants.” Actual scientists need to monitor that last situation and update the vaccines as required, but no one else has anything to be worried about until something changes.

Even the bloody Centers for Disease Control has finally admitted that there’s usually no reason for vaccinated people to wear masks or “socially distance,” including indoors. On the policy level, of course, it’s not possible to require masks only for the unvaccinated unless someone is going around checking vaccination cards all the time.

Let’s not forget that these amazing products of Big Pharma innovation have rolled out in impressive fashion. The most vulnerable people, including nursing-home residents, the elderly more broadly, and health-care workers, were vaccinated first. They’re immune now unless they refused to be vaccinated.

Now the vaccines are open to the general public, and indeed, they’ve been available long enough that fresh arms are harder to come by than vaccines. Across the country, governments and businesses are starting to bribe the wary. New Jersey is offering free beer. Ohio will enter you in a drawing to win a million bucks, which is as good a use of the state’s federal “COVID relief” windfall as any. Krispy Kreme will give you a doughnut. Still, some states are cutting back on vaccine deliveries because there isn’t enough demand.

In total, more than a third of the entire U.S. population is fully vaccinated. We’re still giving out more than a million doses a day, though the number has fallen by about a third in the past month. Combined with a year’s worth of natural infection, this puts a huge dent in the virus’s ability to spread, though we’re still unsure at what point we’ll have “herd immunity.”

Death rates have fallen to their lowest point in many months — averaging fewer than 700 per day through the entire U.S. Case rates, a leading indicator of deaths, are falling too. The experts tell us that we won’t completely wipe this thing out, but we’re certainly headed to a place where it’s no bigger a threat to the nation than — say it with me — the flu.

At this point, if you’re still fully vulnerable to COVID, you almost certainly fall into one of three categories: You’ll be immune very soon, you have deliberately refused the vaccine, or you’re a child who has extremely low risk of a severe case if you get infected. On the society-wide level, the threat is fading as immunity grows, and the remaining problem is increasingly concentrated among people who are vulnerable by choice.

Given all the above, it is a travesty that so many schools are still operating in hybrid, that mask mandates are still in effect, and that some venues still have to limit their capacity. All of it needs to go.

Editor’s note: This piece has been emended since its original posting.