The beginning of this week marked some highly anticipated good news: The first coronavirus vaccines were shipped out and taken by eager recipients. However, given the general lack of trust in our institutions and between (and even among) the two political sides, it’s no surprise that there’s division over the vaccine itself. I can’t wait to take it, say some. Nobody’s injecting me with any of that, say others. And then there’s California, which may consider “historic injustice” when deciding who gets the vaccine first.

To say the whole thing has been grossly politicized is an understatement.

Predictably, there’s also division over what life will look like now that there is a vaccine. The “experts” tell us not to be in any big hurry to return to normal because it will be late spring or summer before herd immunity is achieved — assuming any number of variables.

“Can I stop wearing a mask after getting a COVID-19 vaccine?” asks an Associated Press FAQ. “No,” comes the immediate answer, which might as well have added, And you should be ashamed for asking, you careless mouth-breather.

In truth, there are legitimate reasons for continued vigilance. Both major vaccines require two shots, and the second one comes three weeks later for the Pfizer dose and four for the Moderna one. Full protection takes a couple of weeks after the second shot. Moreover, vaccinating hundreds of millions of people will take time, and, as previously mentioned, there are likely millions who will refuse.

Yet there are reasons to question the wisdom of the experts.

“I would recommend to people to not abandon all public health measures just because you’ve been vaccinated,” the Great and Infallible™ Dr. Anthony Fauci said in November. “Because even though for the general population it might be 90 to 95% effective, you don’t necessarily know for you how effective it is.”

Likewise, Dr. Vin Gupta, NBC’s analyst for health policy, lectured this week, “Just because you get vaccinated with that second dose does not mean you should be participating in things like traveling in the middle of an out-of-control pandemic or that you’re liberated from masks.”

Interesting choice of word there: “liberated.” It wasn’t lost on Senator Ted Cruz, who responded, “This is a bizarre, lunatic, totalitarian cult. It’s not about vaccines or protecting people’s lives — it is instead profoundly anti-science, and is only focused on absolute govt control of every aspect of our lives.”

Congressman Jim Jordan agreed. “First, it was don’t wear a mask,” he noted. “Then, it was slow the spread. Then, it was lock everything down. Then, it was wear a mask. Then, it was wait for the vaccine. Now that we have the vaccine, they tell us it’s not going to stop. Freedom!”

Some of us here in our humble shop have had COVID. Some of us have lost friends or family to it. We’ve spent a good bit of time this year working remotely instead of in our small office so as to protect loved ones who would be hit very hard if they got it. We do not take this pandemic lightly.

Yet there are far too many in this country who are either statists themselves or who have succumbed to that siren song, sacrificing, as Ben Franklin once put it, “essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety.” Politicians with a preexisting condition of totalitarianism used the pandemic to justify totalitarian edicts. And millions of Americans are doing what these politicians and their media mouthpieces are telling them to do — live in fear and panic.

Well, for all of you grassroots Patriots who tire of such tyranny, here are a few thoughts that should resonate:

We don’t want another $1,200 going to people who don’t need it. We want government to quit redistributing income and to get out of the way.

We don’t want an extra $300 for unemployment. We want an end to the lockdowns that take our jobs.

We don’t want to be confined to our homes, ordering everything from Amazon and skipping dining out. We want local small businesses to thrive and that corner chef to stay in business.

We don’t want kids staring at a computer screen and struggling to stay motivated. We want them in school.

We don’t want virtual church or 25% capacity. We want to join our brothers and sisters in corporate worship.

And whether you think masks save countless lives or they’re useless virtue signals — or somewhere in between — we think we speak for everyone in saying we look forward to no longer having to wear them.

So, what will life be like in the coming months? It certainly appears that it will be much the same, with varying lockdowns to go with mask and distancing mandates. Is that because such things are necessary, or because there are just some folks who won’t let go of their power over others?