Maybe, just maybe, the year is going to go out with some better news on the COVID front. All indications are there will be at least one vaccine, perhaps two, approved by the year’s end. Great Britain already began dispensing and administering doses and the U.S. isn’t far behind. The trials and approvals are moving at unbelievable speed for a process that usually takes years.

Leaders and healthcare professionals are working on a priority list for the vaccine — who gets the first available doses, when those doses are shipped and what states get them in what order. Not an easy determination to make, but it is a work in progress.

Most of America is waiting for the rollout to happen. The would-be recipients break out into several groups.

There are those who want the shot immediately, or sooner, for themselves and their families. There are those with underlying conditions and the older population who are at highest risk and may be in care facilities or nursing homes.

Then there are those who are in good to moderate health, who could wait until the doses are in ample supply before starting the two-shot regimen.

And of course there are those who will not take the inoculation, whether because of health issues with any vaccine or simply exercising their rights as Americans not to be vaccinated.

No matter what group is first in line, we all need to remember that we are nearly at the end of this dark season. Those who are in the second or third or fourth group selected to receive the vaccine must remain patient and continue to exercise the precautions and protocols that have wearied the world for going on 10 months.

It isn’t time to throw those precautions to the wind, relying on the growing herd immunity to protect us from the virus. It may be on the ropes, but it isn’t on the mat. Not yet.

And states with lower populations may have a longer wait for their allocations of vaccine than, say, a higher population state like Pennsylvania.

Even though the rate of infection and spread is increasing in our state, there are more spaces in Wyoming to take advantage of than in other, more crowded states.

So in addition to masks, social distancing, washing hands and staying home if sick, we have to add big preventative doses of patience. We may be forced to live with the virus a while longer.

But take heart: The vaccine is on the way. Be patient and kind a short time longer. Maybe by summer this horrible pandemic will be behind us. All we have to do is hold the course.