I moved to a new state in Fall 2019. I never knew anyone in this new state. I made friends toward the end of 2019 in my apartment building. When the pandemic hit in 2020, they stopped being my friends because they didn't want to adhere to mask mandates, lockdowns, or social distancing. They were no longer considerate of my boundaries, well-being, and compliance with the science-based rules at that time. Little did I know that politics drove their decisions, and that the majority of people in this state believed as they did. Also, I lost many friends and family members who believed in the same - not masking, not social distancing, not vaccinating, not boosting, or partially vaccinating but not getting the 2nd shot or the booster, etc. They were no longer safe for me, and their spreading disinformation and lies was something I didn't want to hear or be party to. I couldn't condone or agree or even witness their very harmful actions, as many people have lost their lives or experienced traumatic grief or became permanently disabled because of disinformation.

You wanting to be safe is self-care for you, and your boundaries are there to help maintain that safety for yourself and others. Their boundaries for freedom or whatever else they believe in may not coincide with yours, so many people move apart and split up friendships for that reason, and that is healthy to do so. To constantly be in a relationship that offers nothing but arguments and friction is stressful, toxic, and not good for either party. Breakups are a part of life. And because this pandemic is political, people have become very tribal. Those who want their freedoms or are sick of playing it safe (due to so-called pandemic fatigue), they tend to flock with the freedom people. Those who are at-risk or are close to at-risk people or work with people in healthcare settings will likely do the responsible thing and be safe over free, though safety equates to more freedom when it's the ones who are unvaccinated and unmasked who are dying or getting severe disease, for the most part. But there are many people who are being safe as part of their civic duties as well as because they just want to be safe and not get hurt, even if they aren't high-risk. That's okay and beneficial, too.

During these polarized times, the healthiest thing to do is to flock with those who hold similar values.

Your friend ghosting you was probably their own boundary, since their values are freedom over safety. I've lost many friends like that, since I mask, isolate, distance, vaccinate, and play it safe. And you know what, they weren't my true friends to begin with. I can't risk my life to adhere to their freedoms. They are playing roulette with their lives, so let them. If you've tried to convince them or state your boundaries, and they are not willing to at least understand why you are doing what you're doing to be safe, then you don't need that stress in your life anyway. Conversely, if they feel stress from people telling them what to do, or to not being loyal to their political party and/or religion, or whatever other cultural values they have that differ from yours, then they have every right to become tribal and only flock with those who do. They can try to "recruit" you into their fold, in much the same way as many former vaccinated persons were recruited, but you can say no or state your case, which will cause them to go on to the next person they can hang freely with, without the need for reminders, science, masks, vaccines, boosters, and more. But their risks are not your risks, and so you two just grew apart from that. It's the sad reality of this pandemic and how politics have defined it and segregated science/medicine/prevention from religion/politics/freedom.

Understand your relational losses and the grief that follows. Many of us have lost many things, not just to death, but also to lost relationships, careers, jobs, future prospects, purposes in life, health, etc. It's a tough loss, but it's inevitable now.

I, myself, will be totally fine with unsafe people ghosting me. In fact, I'd ghost them if they didn't ghost me. If I had a strong relationship, not just an acquaintanceship, then I might hold a conversation. But there's no negotiating with people who are on the extremes or who are pandemic fatigued and have given up or who are loyalists to whatever group they now belong to, etc.