Thank you for writing this. I spent much of 2023 in a form of depression until I realized the source - we were never given closure. It wasn't until New Year 2024 that I could say to myself, without an official announcement, "Covid is over".
But it will never be over. It enters the pantheon of diseases, like the flu, that will conitinue to kill tens of thousands of people every year. That will have to suffice.
I still wear my mask on public transport. Why not? If a simple piece of cloth can save me from a few miserable days, great! I don't care who stares.