For all those wondering what life without COVID-19 will be like when corona, COVID, pandemic, vaccine, virus, mask, sanitiser and social distancing will not be the everyday terminology, scientists have an answer, but it is no good news. In simple terms buckle up, coronavirus is not done and there’s more to come.
According to experts, almost everyone will either be infected with COVID or vaccinated against it before the pandemic ends and some can experience both. In fact, some unlucky few will contract the virus more than once. WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020.
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Scientists also say that the race between the variants of the virus causing deadly waves of transmission and the battle to get everyone vaccinated will not end until each person on Earth will not get infected with COVID-19.
“I see these continued surges occurring throughout the world. Then it will drop, potentially somewhat precipitously. And then I think we very easily could see another surge in the fall and winter” of this year,” Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and an adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden told Bloomberg.
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Osterholm further added that the world can expect more outbreaks in classrooms, on public transport and in workplaces over the coming months.
What is the biggest threat?
According to experts, the next few months are going to be difficult, one of the key dangers being the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants of coronavirus. However, it is not the only potential threat as with coronavirus, nothing is anticipated.
“We’re going to see hills and valleys, at least for the next several years as we get more vaccine out. That’s going to help. But the challenge is going to be: How big will the hills and valleys be, in terms of their distance?” Osterholm said.
“We don’t know. But I can just tell you, this is a coronavirus forest fire that will not stop until it finds all the human wood that it can burn,” he added as per Bloomberg.
Will the COVID-19 pandemic be over in 6 months? How will COVID end?
In the clearest terms, the COVID-19 pandemic will not be over in the next six months, say experts. Experts, however, generally agree that the current outbreak will be tamed to a great extent once most people, perhaps, 90% to 95% of the global population reach a degree of immunisation against the virus owing to the vaccination and drugs against COVID.
The struggle that awaits to reach that level, on the other hand, is another debate and concern that we need to address.
According to experts, the key element should be vaccinations against COVID-19.