I didn't leave the house today. It's the third day I haven't stepped outside the door. I'm afraid. I think about how Variant D causes infected persons to have one thousand times more viral particles in their throats than the original COVID. I feel like the threat of COVID now is worse than it ever was.

I was thinking of getting a sandwich at Subway today. Then I thought of how the fixins are all there kind of exposed behind the counter. What if the store employee, or any random customer, sneezed or coughed? I envision viral particles floating through the air and settling on the pickles and shredded lettuce. No . . . not going to risk it.

This thing isn't going away in a year or two, either. With 90 million unvaccinated numbskulls out there, COVID will keep jumping from host to host. Some in that group will wise up and get the shots. But plenty won't! And we can't really force them to either. It's just not doable. Sure, over the next few decades, we could force universal compliance, as we've done with other vaccinations. Meanwhile, COVID roams and mutates. This is a nightmare. I will never in my lifetime feel okay being in a crowd. I don't know how people in NYC can even bring themselves to use the subway. (At least I don't live in an environment that crowded.) I canceled a trip I was looking forward to because I'm afraid to get on a plane.

I live alone. I'm retired. I'm sick of doing most of my interacting with others on the telephone.

When I go anywhere, I wear 2 masks and gloves. I'm vaccinated, but that isn't affording me the protection I was expecting. Plenty of vaccinated people are getting COVID-D. So, if I catch COVID, I'm not supposed to get all that sick. I guess that's something to take comfort in. It's no guarantee though. My life is going to be radically different from what I had planned. I don't even know what to plan now.