And they refused to listen.
They went out of state to an ocean side town for one my friend's birthdays, ran around like everyone else acting like there's no such thing as a pandemic. Exactly 10 days later (today), one of them is posting about how they woke up coughing and with severe chest pains.
Each time I tried to tell them that they needed to take it seriously, they would shrug it off.
You can't fix stupid.
I told my one friend (the one with the birthday) that it was stupid and I wasn't going or available for even hanging out until the pandemic was over. He wouldn't listen to me so now he gets the very real possibility of losing one of his longest best friends.
There won't be herd immunity. Those who are vaccinated and catch it, even if they're asymptomatic, can still spread it. If they're symptomatic, they spread as much an unvaxxed person. On top of it all, the lambda variant is vaccine resistant.
The problem with all of that is that there are a notable number of people (like me) who spend a lot of time helping family who can't get vaxxed (for medical reasons). That means that there is a significant chance that I could spread it without knowing. This means that my life just doesn't change at all no matter how much I want it to even if I get vaxxed. This approach, honestly, is what everyone should be doing anyway because they're not immune. I'm in a perpetual lockdown and it's not going to end any time soon.
I think they will find a vaccine for the lambda. The mRNA vaccines are quicker to develop. The masking does suck. Maybe you could wear a nose/mouth respirator instead? It's heavier, but it makes a better seal than any close mask will ever see. You can get n95 and n100 filters.
Herd immunity will come. It won't happen as fast.
Masking isn't a problem for me.
If he survives, it should help change his attitude. I've seen so many people out wandering around as though they're bulletproof. It's sad.
But it's a sort of massive culling, too. Those who are not smart enough to follow simple directions stand an excellent chance of dying. That'll do a lot towards securing that herd immunity that everyone wants.