When Jim Russo tried to get his latest COVID-19 vaccine a few weeks ago, he found an appointment online for the following day at his local Safeway in Walla Walla. The 62-year-old biochemistry professor showed up, waited a few minutes, then received the shot without further questions. No out-of-pocket costs, no proof of insurance.

The same as last year. And the year before.

Gone are the days of crowding into massive event spaces and parking lots to stand in line with thousands of strangers. No longer are websites crashing under the weight of frenzied attempts to secure coveted appointments.

The rollout of COVID vaccines has smoothed out in the last five years, for the most part.

With vaccination and prior infection, community immunity has strengthened and the rate of COVID deaths has fa

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