There’s so many pernicious lies being spread AND we don’t know everything so we are left to making life and death decisions with a confusing array of data.

The author is right to be concerned and anxious. I live in an area where most people take the virus and the vaccine seriously and I don’t know what to do. My best guess (for me) right now is this. I believe that the vaccine I received is substantially effective against COVID and the current variants. BUT, I also believe that young people, especially children, are lagging in getting vaccinated. I do not know if how likely a fully vaccinated person like myself is to be a carrier—I assume it’s low but not zero. So I wear a mask whenever I’m around children—I don’t want to make anyone sick—and whenever I’m in a crowded place, like a grocery store.

We are certainly a lot safer with the vaccine, but this story isn’t over yet. More variants may come and either we get lucky and they’re not too dangerous or we get unlucky and there’s a deadly variant that our current vaccines can’t handle. Or, something in between.