There have been a few signs lately that we really are turning the page on the pandemic. The forthcoming end of the public health emergency next Thursday is an obvious one. Perhaps resounding even more loudly was the Biden administration’s announcement this week that it is lifting the vaccine mandate.

We as human beings are not designed to remember everything, but I can recall at one point in the not-so-distant past when the mandate was all we talked (and wrote about). Now – and of course details are still forthcoming – the government is lifting the requirement that healthcare workers at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-certified facilities (including home health and hospice agencies) receive vaccinations.

Good riddance, novel coronavirus.

There are other signs we are starting a new chapter. Home care companies are starting to report strong earnings — see stories about Addus and Pennant — and their reports contain nary a word about the dreaded COVID-19.

And of course, there is nothing like a blockbuster financial deal to make us feel like all is right in the world. We can thank Amedisys and Option Care Health for that.

I also should add that during this period, it seems fitting that Vicki Hoak, the well-respected CEO of the Home Care Association of America, is stepping down from her position. Hoak started at the helm of her organization during the pandemic. Now with the pandemic exiting the stage, it’s as good a time for her to leave as any.

Of course, infection control is still a priority, and if the pandemic taught us anything it is that we can never be too safe, adhere to protocols too closely or take ventilation for granted. Who knows? Another strain of COVID-19 — or something even more sinister — could be right around the corner.

But for now we can take a breath (a maskless one, mercifully) and be grateful that we may actually have moved past a very trying, very disturbing period in our history. Hope we never see it again.

Liza Berger is editor of McKnight’s Home Care. Email her at [email protected].