Over the past year, millions of people learned how to work, go to school, and “socialize” from their living rooms, and sadly, 200,000 businesses permanently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. For months, we waited with bated breath as Operation Warp Speed spurred vaccine development and began distribution at a record pace.

We were promised by our top doctors and scientists that once a vaccine was available, our nation would return to normal. Now, with the vast majority of Congress members and staff fully vaccinated, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi still refuses to end the harmful practices of proxy voting and remote committee hearings and remains defiant on masks on the House floor. These practices may have once been helpful, but thanks to countless doctors and scientists, we now have ample access to safe vaccines that effectively protect those who choose to take them.