I have children still too little to competently wear masks, long COVID resultant from an infection acquired before the pandemic was declared, and I wish to avoid further complications of COVID for myself / my family, so that we are not left destitute, disabled, or dead.

In a world where more people are infected, with variants that are easier to contract, where the area under the curve of hospitalizations is massive and ER doctors in major cities band together to put out pleas for the crumbling healthcare system, where HCWs don't mask and feel compelled to come to work ill to support their dwindling colleagues and ballooning patients, and yet very few people take care to protect those around them…

…I will continue to use the same weapons that have always ensured my family does not contract any more #SARSCoV2: avoiding shared air.

We're much more competent at it now than we were then, too. The amount of risk to which we expose ourselves is drastically less. We have made many sacrifices and yet our quality of life is as high as its ever been. We lack none of the necessities of life and have continued to learn and grow, to find new friends with whom to connect and new opportunities to be of service to others.