As many of us know, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on throughout the world. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 145,982 people are hospitalized with covid and 24,000 ICU beds are in use by covid patients. This is a record high for hospitalizations due to the Coronavirus. Within Iowa, 4.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. 1.87 million people are fully vaccinated, bringing the state to 59.4% of the population is fully vaccinated. Within the United States, 2,064,106 people have received at least one dose accounting for 65.4% of the population, 1,873,033 are fully vaccinated accounting for 59.4% of the population. However, in this time of uncertainty, there is hope. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have altered quarantine periods to include those that are fully up to date with vaccines or had confirmed COVID-19 in the past 90 days. They are no longer required to quarantine following the exposure. Unvaccinated, or those not up to date on vaccines, are required to quarantine for 5 days. Regardless of vaccination status, getting tested, watching for symptoms, wearing a mask, avoiding travel, and avoiding people that are high risk, are recommended following exposure. The Delta variant has been found to be twice as contagious, has a higher rate of transmission among unvaccinated people, is less impacted by the vaccine, and might cause more severe illness among those infected with it, The Omicron variant is newly discovered and is believed to spread more easily and the vaccine is found to be less effective against it.  Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic is still in full force, but if intentional choices are made to mitigate the spread, life will soon return to normal.