Between the increased transmissibility of the omicron variant and the current seasonal surge that hasn’t peaked, the United States is primed for the largest wave yet of COVID-19 cases. We can only hope that the wave of hospitalizations and deaths does not also set records.

It’s time to face the fact that nearly everyone is going to get COVID-19. We need to stop treating the coronavirus like the bubonic plague, or like a punishment for sin, and start treating it like an endemic disease.