Wednesday will mark a week since Gov. Ned Lamont lifted the state’s mask mandate for people who are fully vaccinated. Based on early observations, Connecticut residents are quickly embracing their no-mask freedom and businesses are responding by lessening their own mask restrictions.

Connecticut has its relatively high vaccination rates to thank for this; take a bow all you vaccinated. The coronavirus needs to move from host to host to survive. The more people who are vaccinated, the fewer human hosts the virus has available and the more its sting retreats.

As of Monday, with more than 1.8 million people fully vaccinated, representing 51% of the population, Connecticut ranked behind only Maine and Vermont in terms of the percentage of population vaccinated, and in both cases by less than 1%. In raw numbers, Connecticut has vaccinated more people than those two states combined.

Add in Massachusetts and Rhode Island at fourth and fifth, and New England states hold the top five spots in percentage of population vaccinated, all at 50% or greater. New Hampshire is the only laggard, at 41%, ranked 24th.

This is to be celebrated. It makes this corner of the United States the most vaccination-protected region against the coronavirus. Connecticut and surrounding states also have high levels of vaccination rates among their elderly population. Protecting this demographic group is particularly significant because infection among the elderly is more likely to lead to hospitalizations and deaths.

Of course, the rule is that if you are not vaccinated, you still must wear a mask in public, indoor settings. We recognize many of the unvaccinated may well ignore this provision, but largely they only endanger themselves and the other unmasked. The rest of us should not have to wear masks, however, because they won’t get on board.

And getting them on board is the state’s next big challenge. With the three approved vaccines now widely available, this appears to be more an educational challenge than a strategic one. Unfounded fears about the vaccines still have to be overcome. Blacks and Latinos continue to lag behind white residents in getting vaccinated.

Looking at things more broadly, the greatest hills to climb are getting all states to buy-in on the importance of high vaccination rates, and to do a far better job of making vaccinations available in poorer countries.

Until that happens, the battle cannot be fully won. The longer the virus has places where it can rapidly spread amongst an unprotected populace, the greater the chances it mutates into a virus that is more virulent, deadly and, in a worst-case scenario, able to beat the vaccines.

In this country, vaccine resistance has a political element, which is honestly hard to fathom.

The bottom 25 states in terms of vaccination rates are all what would be considered “red states,” those that have voted largely or exclusively for Republican candidates since the administration of President Reagan from 1981-1989. Mississippi, with a vaccination percentage of 26.5%, is last in the vaccination effort.

Republican election officials need to push back against conspiracy theories that are discouraging millions from getting vaccinated. They should join with President Biden in making the case that getting vaccinated is a patriotic act that protects your neighbors and moves the nation toward full economic recovery.

The biggest hurdle to overcome is getting the vaccine available to Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa and other poor regions. President Biden last week committed to sending 80 million doses overseas. That’s called a small start. More industrialized nations need to contribute. By some estimates, these areas need 4 billion vaccines to significantly reduce the threat of spread. So far, 1.3 billion vaccines have been manufactured worldwide, and most of those already went into arms.

In India the bigger problems appear to be resistance and distribution, more than supply.

Offering hope that the international challenge can be met are promising early results for a vaccine, based on the hepatitis vaccine B, that is cheaper to make and easier to distribute. Creators Dr. Maria Bottazzi and Dr. Peter Hotez have announced no plans to patent it or otherwise restrict its manufacturing.

Incredible progress has been made in the war on the coronavirus, but it's not over, not by a long shot. In this county we are fortunate to have an easy way to move closer to victory — get vaccinated.

Do it.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.