ALLENTOWN (TNS) — Pennsylvania is poised to resume normal activities on Memorial Day, with one big exception — wearing masks.

Gov. Tom Wolf and a legislative task force announced last week that most health restrictions will expire May 31. That includes limits on capacity at restaurants and sports and entertainment venues.

Masks will continue to be required in most settings until 70% of adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

That troubles me.

Have the governor and lawmakers considered what happens if Pennsylvania never reaches 70%? Multiple polls indicate that number may be unrealistic.

A poll released a few weeks ago by Muhlenberg College in Allentown found that 31% of Pennsylvanians not already vaccinated do not plan to get vaccinated. The poll was taken in March.

The results mirror other national polls, including one in March by Pew Research that found 30% said they probably or definitely would not get a shot. A Gallup poll in March found 26% didn’t plan to.

So what happens if Pennsylvania doesn’t hit 70%? We can’t wear masks forever.

I got my second shot last week at Vaccine Lancaster’s site at Park City Mall. The lines were significantly shorter than when I was there three weeks ago for my first shot.

That’s not a good sign.

The effort has lost steam. There finally are adequate supplies, but not enough people taking advantage of them. Anyone who wants to be vaccinated should have their first shot at least scheduled by now. Many clinics no longer even require appointments.

As of last week, nearly 42% of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 63% had at least one dose. If all of them were to complete the two-shot process, we’d be nearing the mark set by Wolf.

Instead of focusing on vaccination rates, state officials should focus on hospitalizations and deaths to determine when to rescind the mask mandate.

I’m not qualified to set target numbers, but I’d hope health officials could set reasonable thresholds.

I continue to be a big believer in masks. Beyond vaccines, I believe they are our best defense against the coronavirus. But I also believe masks should become unnecessary, pretty soon. Last week, I suggested they are unnecessary now for outdoor youth sports.

Fourteen states have lifted all mask mandates.

For more than a year now, we’ve been told that when vaccines were readily available, we could get back to living life as we used to.

We have reached that point. People who refuse to be vaccinated can’t be allowed to hold back the rest of us.

And those of us who are fully vaccinated should trust that we will be safe while not wearing a mask and being around others who are maskless. The vaccines don’t work 100% of the time, but the preliminary data are pretty assuring.

There are some people who cannot be vaccinated, because they are too young or have health conditions that make vaccines dangerous. I sympathize with them. They may never feel safe.

I would hope that people who know they will be around those who can’t be vaccinated would respect their situation and keep their distance or wear masks.

It appears as if more children will be able to get vaccinated soon, alleviating the fears of many parents, including me. The Pfizer vaccine could be approved for 12- to 15-year-olds by next week. Hopefully, younger children will become eligible eventually, too.

The 70% vaccination mark set by Wolf is in line with a goal set Tuesday by President Joe Biden. He called for 70% of adults to be at least partially vaccinated by July 4.

Health officials are confident that communities that can achieve a 70% rate will see sharp declines in infections, hospitalizations and deaths, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Wolf and Pennsylvania’s legislative task force — which includes two Democrats and two Republicans — may have set the 70% threshold to motivate more people to get vaccinated, by promising them freedom in return.

That may convince some, but I don’t think that’s going to change a lot of minds. I suspect many people who shun vaccines also already are done wearing masks.

I don’t know how to convince more people to get immunized. Unfortunately, like everything with COVID, vaccines have become political.

I just hope that Wolf and the legislative task force are willing to reconsider their plan if their goal becomes out of reach. The mask requirement cannot go on indefinitely.

Eventually, all of us are going to be done wearing masks, whether we are allowed to or not.

(Paul Muschick is a columnist for The Morning Call of Allentown.)