Almost all the major players in the entertainment and service industries and many beyond will be recruited to one side of the argument or to the other in the next few months as people are vaccinated. And it’s the bottom line that will convince them.

Either these institutions will view the public-health technologies, permission slips, and terms of service as impediments to opening business, or as their last lifeline to a huge portion of their potential customers. Businesses, civil institutions, and churches that see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel soon will view an ongoing post-pandemic COVID infrastructure as a potential obstacle, maybe even an expensive one, that keeps away customers who no longer want to be hassled about their body temperature, or asked about their recent travel and medical history. They will lobby against instituting it, or introduce roadblocks to ever implementing it in the first place.

But some sectors of the economy, or individual institutions that are struggling to rebuild what they lost in 2019, may view Dr. Anthony Fauci and his disciples as ongoing allies. They may become allies of an ongoing public-health regime reaching into everyday life, because they will see it as a reassurance that is necessary to bring in skittish customers and patrons.