The news is grim.

And frustrating.

On Dec. 9, the Sun-Gazette reported that “Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital is operating at 130% capacity, of which 61% of all patients have COVID-19, according to Dr. Jaewon Ryu, president and CEO of Geisinger Medical Center.”

The Associated Press reported in Wednesday’s Williamsport Sun-Gazette that the U.S. “hit another depressing pandemic milestone — 800,000 deaths. It’s a sad coda to a year that held so much promise with the arrival of vaccines but is ending in heartbreak for the many grieving families trying to navigate the holiday season.”

As of Thursday, about 61% of the U.S. had been fully vaccinated and about 60.5% of Pennsylvanians had been fully vaccinated.

In Lycoming County, about 47.7% of the population has been fully vaccinated as of Thursday, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The vaccine does not guarantee that anyone taking it will not be afflicted with COVID-19 — any more than wearing a seat belt guarantees that a motorist or passenger will survive a car crash.

And yet we encourage everyone to wear seat belts because the overwhelming evidence is that they greatly reduce the risk of death or injury in a crash.

Just as we encourage everyone who is able to get vaccinated, as the overwhelming evidence is that it reduces the risk both of getting COVID-19 and of having severe, even debilitating symptoms if they are afflicted with this deadly disease.

There are, of course, other avenues for reducing the spread of COVID-19. Wearing masks indoors when we are around people other than close family. Frequent hand-washing. Social distancing.

We recommend all of these, along with recommending that the eligible get the vaccine.

None of these practices are truly a burden. None of these practices, when followed in school districts where administrators and staff decide whether the words on students’ T-shirts are too profane or the length of students’ skirts are too short, are infringements on freedom.

And when we watch the death toll pass 800,000, we are tired of neighbors and friends who pretend otherwise.

And we are frustrated.