The local vaccination rates are a really important part of the equation. So many hospitals around the country are completely full and turning patients away, there is a point where the oversimplification of the perception of "personal freedom" has negative impacts on the common good. A friend of ours ended up in the ICU in San Francisco yesterday (non-Covid related), he may not have made it if we lived somewhere with no ICU capacity. Right now the vaccines have been very effective in keeping the worst in check, the longer people hold out on getting vaccinated the better chance there will be another variant that the current vaccine is useless against, that is the problem with "waiting to see" if the current vaccine actually works. Vaccines and masks are still the best tools available to us until there is a definitive cure.
I am also wondering when or if I will even play a gig indoors again or go to an indoor show. The venue would have to require proof of vaccination and until the surge ends, masks. Tests within a few days are largely a useless indicator, if they accept tests it is a no go for me. I don't enjoy wearing a mask but can say that I have enjoyed not getting ANY kind of respiratory illness in almost two years. Even if Covid becomes a non-issue I can easily see wearing a mask indoors in public during flu season.
Greg, we like having you around here please stay safe and don't end up a statistic!
