Congratulations to #teamfreedom. The US now has 75M cases and 888K deaths. And while there is only 2.5K deaths a day, there are 365 days in the year, so they do add up. You guys are winning. You must be so proud.
I haven't given up yet. Still masking up, still staying at home rather than enjoying life in public, got vaxxed, boosted and following CDC guidelines. Now that we have access to home test kits, I test myself before visiting my mother, who is in an assisted living facility that has not yet had even one guest come down with covid (so, one point for the good side). I figure on sticking to this script for at least a few more months.
But, I have to say, it's the virus that kicked our asses. Antivaxxers/Republicans didn't. The virus did. Maybe if the Delta and Omicron variants had not shown up. Maybe if the vaccines were better at preventing infection. Maybe if governments of the world were determined to vaccinate the world rather than just the rich. Maybe then we'd have done better.
As it is, this is what failure looks like. I can't say I've never lost. So, I know what to do. Pick myself up, dust myself off and figure out what's best given the new.