I don't really feel adequately equipped to realistically assess how big of a deal or risky this really is and how hysterical would really be appropriate for one to be. However, I'm not sure in regards to this specific issue the reassurances about the safety record and statistics for air travel in general are completely relevant. The issues are nebulous problems relating to Boeing specifically where the relative likelihood of a problem and how attributable it is to Boeing or specific models of Boeing planes is unclear. This means you can't simply assume hopping on a Boeing aircraft signals an immediate danger. However, while it has always been the case there's some danger involved in any kind of transportation air travel included, the issue being considered is to what degree is that being increased because of specific things happening with Boeing aircraft, not the overal air travel industry.
For example, if this were a more concrete safety risk, maybe something that can very precisely tell you that a Boeing plane is a guaranteed death sentence, the overall landscape of air travel safety statistics, right now wouldn't look very different unless and until the reason for that increased risk was allowed to persist while flights continue, after which increased incidents would affect that safety record. Like, to take an absurd hypothetical, maybe someone has planted a bomb on every 5th plane manufactured by Boeing that goes off randomly between every 300th to 500th flight that plane takes. If this became known, you'd have a greater chance of getting on a Boeing aircraft that was not affected or which was taking one of the nth flights that wasn't the unlucky number, but you'd still not get on any Boeing planes because this specific problem is outside of the usual factors that had until now driven the otherwise rosy statistics for air travel safety. If someone tried to persuade you to get on one of the planes by saying the trip to the airport by car had been statistically more dangerous than the flight would be, basing their statements on the record of flight safety for air travel generally throughout its history until that point, they'd normally have been right but in that circumstance it'd be madness to get on the flight knowing there was an unusually high chance it had a bomb on board even if the cited statistics before had included previous incidents where deaths had occurred from aircraft that had had bombs on them before this specific scare.
Obviously this is very different as there isn't the same deliberate malice or exactly known likelihood of an incident, that's just a hypothetical extreme for illustration but I guess I'm not sure how reassuring it is to know that before there was specific cause to think travelling by air on a particular manufacturer's aircraft was less safe than previously thought, air travel in general on any plane was considered pretty safe. What if the current issues are set to change those statistics over time?