I am not an epidemiologist, but my initial research specialty, computer viruses, lead me to follow the COVID outbreak closely. A year ago I was in the super-paranoid camp, electing to cancel in-person class activities the day before the University pulled the plug. During the winter I wore two masks when shopping. Now I’m in the sunshine-and-roses camp: we are ALMOST through this and I expect fall to be mostly normal!

So why do I believe this? We’ll start with a discussion not of human pathogens but the digital kind: how they work, how they spread, and “how to 0wn the Internet in your spare time”. Then carry through to what the situation was in March, a reminder of what we knew, and how we needed to respond to exponential processes.

And finally, we will discuss the situation today. How and why the vaccines are so miraculously good, why I am not unduly worried about variants, how the supply is ramping up, and why I felt comfortable spending part of my spring break visiting my parents who I haven’t seen in over a year.