Fuck that, there's nothing to be apologetic about.
No one, no matter what they voted or thought in september / december saw this. No one. No matter how much they want to say "I told you so". They're full of shit if they do. All they had were vague uncertain feelings or just a willingness to hit the summer in safety, certainly no exact details were posted to the best of my knowledge.
No one should feel bad for sticking to their guns and saying that 17th wasn't good enough at the time.