Jason Kottke’s blog post offers some great advice that we all should heed:

So what can you do about this right now? 1. Stop worrying about the variants until the experts let us know we have something to worry about. 2. If you are eligible for the vaccine, get it! 3. Spread the word about vaccine availability in your area. Yesterday Vermont opened signups for vaccination appointments for all Vermonters 75 and older, and I texted/emailed everyone I could think of who was over 75 or who had parents/relatives/friends who are over 75 to urge them to sign up or spread the word. 4. Continue to wear a mask (a better one if possible), wash your hands, social distance, stay home when possible, don’t spend time indoors w/ strangers, etc. Thanks to these remarkable vaccines, real relief is in sight — let’s keep on track and see this thing through.

My family is now obsessed with wearing two layers of masks, which I tried but couldn’t get to work with my glasses on. I am more interested in finally being able to buy and wear N95, KN95, and KN94 (my favorite) masks, which are more effective than the cloth masks and surgical masks I have been stuck with since February.

In New Jersey, vaccine distribution is both successful (my wife, who is a teacher, got her first dose yesterday) and a total mess (it is very hard to get an appointment, there is no central coordination of virus distribution, and any effective effort on prioritizing inoculations for higher-risk groups is effective gone). If my family is a good indicator of people’s behavior, then lots of us New Jerseyans keep hammering away at the appointment systems, trying to get a better appointment slot, which further jams up the system.