Even if you wear your mask, refuse to interact with unvaccinated children, force everyone around you to wear a mask, and sanitize your hands like crazy, you’re going to get COVID-19 — and you’ll probably get it repeatedly.

Individuals should get vaccinated, not so much to prevent infection — the vaccines do help somewhat on that score in the short term, but breakthrough cases seem extremely common — but to make their inevitable infections less serious. Most coronavirus cases are mild, meaning they don’t require hospitalization, but those “mild” cases are often unpleasant and debilitating for days. The vaccines make the mild cases milder.

More importantly, vaccination reduces by 90% the likelihood that you will be hospitalized or killed by the virus.

The Biden administration needs to accept that everyone is going to get COVID-19 and change its behaviors accordingly. Mostly, it should build up a massive infrastructure of therapeutics.