I’m noticing two trends that seem potentially positive.
I think they have oversold both the vax and the “new strain” thing. First off I’ve noticed Normies have so much faith in the vax that they stop worrying about COVID entirely once they’ve had the shot and seem to just wear a mask because science says to for some reason. The panic feeling in them has stopped largely.
Even more amazingly, thanks to our savior the vaccine, the terrified deluded masses are doing away with the masks altogether. I went for a hike in a nearby park this weekend. The last time I was there was a few months ago, and at that time roughly 90% of people were wearing masks. Now it's basically flipped and at least 80% of people weren't wearing them.
I can't say if this is really a positive development or not. The positive aspect of this might be more indirect. What I mean is that these people are in for a rude awakening when the next round of lockdowns is imposed and/or the next round of shots is mandated. Perhaps this will push people beyond their breaking points. I think another round of restrictions after mass vaccination will bring us to an inflection point - one possibility is that people will finally shake off their blinders and push back, arguing that they've been so good and righteous, have done everything they were told to do for a year and still can't go to ballgames and craft breweries as they please, so enough is enough. On the other hand, they may continue to blindly conform as the goalposts are slowly but surely moved ever further away and the dangled carrot of tawdry live entertainment remains just out of reach. Based on what I've observed so far I fear that the latter is more likely.
What I find amusing is how these people who have viewed themselves as righteous and benevolent rule-followers are cherry picking the recommendations they find most convenient from their medical priest-gods at the Center for Deification of Contaminants. Their current propaganda claims that even after getting fully vaccinated one should "still take steps to protect [one's] self and others like wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds....
Take these precautions whenever you are in public." These are the same people who have taken it upon themselves to denounce and persecute others for non-compliance over the past year. It's almost as if people are selfish and do whatever's convenient for them and aren't actually saintly altruists.
The CDC's list of things "we are still learning," which is to say "we have no earthly idea about" or "will fabricate to suit our agenda," is an amusing read. We're "still learning" how well the vaccine protects you from spreading it to others even if you're asymptomatic, how long the vaccine protects people (I'm guessing not very long), how many people need to be vaccinated before we reach herd immunity (I'm guessing approximately 100% give or take a percent or two), and how effective the vaccines are against "variants" (I'm guessing not at all).