Save The Dates - how time sensitive?

6-8 months ahead of the wedding is the typical timeframe, so you’re right on track.

Send a digital save the date now so guests can mark it on calendars. Then send the cards when they arrive.

Save the Dates are a relatively new invention. You don't need them at all. You may just tell people who need advance notice for travel or work planning, over the phone or in an email. And there is no fixed time to send them. Some people send them a year in advance, though no one or maybe 5 people are international and might need that time to plan Visas and cost, get a passport. But 4-6 months is the earliest most people anywhere in the country need notice unless you are talking a major holiday. Just tell the occasional one that does, and wait on the rest. Remember, once you send one, you have an obligation to invite them. The first wave of covid surprised people. But don't plan to send them and just reschedule. People turn down other things, or move around their vacations and things. Better to get no formal notice until the 8 week invitations, than to get one you have to change or cancel. You are fine as is, sending them later than your friends.

I’d send a virtual one & when they show up send the paper ones. STDs aren’t mandatory so you’ll be ok.

I wouldnt worry unless you STILL haven't received them at the end of March

I would probably contact the company you ordered from to get an update but I'd hold off a few more weeks and not send anything digital just yet. As long as you can mail out your save the dates by the end of March, I think you should be ok

If you don't send them minimum 6 months from the wedding (March 1st at the latest) then skip them altogether

When Covid got last spring, we had to postpone our engagement photos and, consequently, our save the dates. Guests got them around 4 months before the wedding instead of the typical 5-8 months. The way I saw it was that it was still informing them of the wedding date before it was time for invitations! We had made sure to tell close family and friends as soon as we knew the date!