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According to the latest data from the Georgia Department of Public Health, 9 percent of Troup County residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Even more — 15 percent — have received at least one shot, and both numbers continue to rise every single day. A total of 16,425 total shots have been administered in Troup County, according to data on the GDPH website as of Wednesday afternoon.

Those numbers greatly lag behind total numbers for the state of Georgia, where 28 percent of residents have had at least one shot and 15 percent are fully vaccinated.

However, we’re encouraged knowing that a large chunk of that is probably due to a supply and demand issue.

Regardless of how you feel about the shot, it’s clear that we’re moving in the right direction as a state and a country. Georgia has seen a few days recently where it was in the triple digits for COVID-19 cases reported — thankfully a far cry from the thousands we were seeing not that long ago. The plan is to eventually see double digits and even single digits one day.

We know some states are pulling back on mask mandates, and some people are probably starting to ditch the annoying things due to the warmer weather. But we urge you not to, as medical experts warn it’s too early to do so.

Experts say we are possibly weeks away from a return to something close to normal. The Texas Rangers even had a full baseball stadium on opening night (and continue to try to sell every seat) — perhaps against better judgment — but that’s proof that we’re getting there.

We’ve written it too many times to count, but over the last few months, we’ve been able to stress patience due to optimism on the horizon.

We urge you to stay the course — wear your mask, social distance, keep at it for just a little bit longer.

Getting COVID-19 now would be like running the marathon only to trip a few feet from the finish line.

Don’t let that happen. Finish the job. Whether you plan to get vaccinated or not, don’t lose sight of the finish line ahead.

Wear your mask. Social distance. Keep taking measures to prevent the spread.

The more we all do, the faster we can truly get back to normal.