I’m going to begin with a disclosure: I am not a medical professional. I am not an epidemiologist, nor a virologist. I’m a person who has had to learn way more about all these things than I ever intended, so allow me to put on my fake epidemiologist hat and offer the perspective of a tired citizen who’s frustrated at just about everything and everyone associated with Covid.

The Omicron wave appears to have peaked in the United States, even as the death toll continues to climb, but the real turning point has been political and cultural, especially in urban enclaves where people continued outdoor masking long past the point when we knew that wasn’t gonna move the needle. Democratic leaders have acknowledged that Covid may be becoming endemic, even liberal parents have lost patience with school closures, and bars and restaurants remained open despite the pleading of overwhelmed emergency-room doctors and nurses to help “flatten the curve.” We’re a long way from the early days of the pandemic, when we didn’t yet have a life-saving vaccine, banging pots and pans for our healthcare heroes.