“For the first year of the pandemic, I routinely received questions from friends, family, patients and acquaintances about how to think about risk in different situations before making decisions,” Eisenberg said. “Now, hardly anyone asks those questions and most people have settled on their own conclusions about what works for them.”

Are you ready?

We recently asked readers: “Are you ready to live with the virus?” It’s a hot topic: Nearly 3,000 of you wrote in. Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts. If you’d like to continue the conversation, you can tell us how you feel in the comments section here.

“It’s time to start living with Covid by normalizing it. It’s a virus. It will keep mutating. It’s never going to be ‘over,’ no matter how long we make concessions. And if it’s never over, as a nation, we can’t grieve, find closure, adapt and help each other and our kids find silver linings and hope. We need to begin the healing process. We need to allow the healthy to start living.” — Ariele Taylor, Bay Area, Calif.

“If ‘living with the virus’ means letting down my guard, then NO. I’m not remotely ready. I’m prepared to wear masks for the rest of my life, if need be. I’m not going to get casual about Covid. I’m 74. I’m already dealing with fibromyalgia. I don’t want long-Covid on top of that! For me, masking up when I go out is an inconvenience I can live with.” — Kathryn Janus, Chicago

“Yes, we need to stop dividing citizens over vaccination choice and vaccine passports for good. We haven’t been able to enjoy restaurants, festivals, museums or any kind of travel because of this requirement, due to different vaccine statuses in our family. I am sympathetic to the most vulnerable and immunocompromised, but unless the government can approve more viable treatments for Covid, they are not the only people fighting to survive this pandemic. We have exhausted teachers, business owners, restaurant staff, grocery store clerks, pharmacists, retail workers — all bearing the brunt of restrictions that they need to enforce on an equally exhausted population. By living with the virus, we are equipped with knowing what to do if we get infected, we have new protocols to self-isolate, to wear masks, or even get vaccinated if one feels unsafe. Beyond that, there is not much more we can do as a person.” — Dahlia, Montreal

“I am ready! I want to travel with my family, do my job in full capacity and have my child in school without a mask if they choose. It has been long enough and it’s time to let people start choosing which precautions they want to take. You can wear a mask for the rest of your life should you choose. No one will ever stop you from doing that.” — Stacy Foster, Portland, Ore.