I just received the second shot of the Pfizer vaccine. The pandemic did not magically end with a snap of a finger. I used hand sanitizer on my way out. I still kept my mask on. The virus marches on. The decline in cases recorded in the winter is reversing itself. The more dangerous variants are becoming dominant. And, yet…
Biden’s goal of delivering 100 million doses in his first 100 days was met a month and half early. The new goal is to deliver 200 million and we are on pace to exceed that. As of yesterday, over 15% of American adults have been fully vaccinated. At the beginning of this year, only half a million doses of vaccine were being administered. Today, we are at six times that level. In fact, the concern in the United States is not a shortage of vaccines by the end of spring, but a surplus.
In chess, the end of the match is marked by a checkmate. We aren’t there. The virus still has many places to go. But maybe we are in the endgame, the part of the match when victory is assured, even if it is many moves away. We have the right pieces in the right positions now. Maybe our return to each other is not that far away.