Hot Vax Summer and the Audacity of Optimism

By June 2021, vaccines were widely available, case counts were plummeting, and America collectively decided it was time to act like the pandemic had been a bad dream. The CDC said vaccinated people could take off their masks indoors, and the nation responded with the energy of a dog whose leash just snapped. "Hot Vax Summer" entered the lexicon — part public health campaign, part thirst trap, entirely unhinged. Restaurants couldn't hire fast enough. Flights were booked solid. People who hadn't worn real pants in a year discovered their wardrobes no longer fit, emotionally or physically. For a few beautiful, delusional weeks, it felt like the American comeback story was writing itself. Then Delta showed up, because the virus had not, in fact, read the room. But in that narrow window between the vaccine rollout and the variant surge, there was a moment — brief, manic, beautiful — where everyone was just... out. Living. Overpaying for cocktails with a desperation that bordered on spiritual.