For me, it’s been on my mind since March of 2020. I dreamed of the day when I could travel freely, hug my friends, and get back to enjoying the activities I always took for granted. Now that we are approaching a year since nationwide lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were issued, it can seem like we will never get out of the pandemic. I think the main thing to keep in mind is that life may never return to exactly how it was before the pandemic – but that’s ok.
Thankfully, in the United States, over 85 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been distributed to healthcare workers, essential workers, people over 65, and other qualifying individuals. The newest vaccine to be approved, manufactured by Johnson&Johnson, which will start to be widely distributed in the coming weeks, will only increase the rate at which Americans are protected from severe complications of COVID-19. The current administration has ordered 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which is enough for the entire eligible population! It is estimated that by late Spring, any person who wants the vaccine will be able to get it. This opens the possibility of traveling and spending time with others in a way that feels like before the pandemic, with caution of course. Dr. Anthony Fauci suggests that herd immunity, which means enough people are vaccinated so that community transmission is extremely low, is possible by next fall.
Then, there are the masks. Public health experts suggest that everyone who is vaccinated still wears a mask because it is unknown whether the vaccine actually prevents transmission of the disease, even though it prevents serious complications of the disease. Until a very high percentage of people are fully vaccinated, masks will continue to be common, since the virus will still be spreading across the country for many more months, at least. It’s possible that up to 90% of the country will need to be fully vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
Unfortunately, as you may have seen in the news for the past few months, there are emerging variants of the virus. These variants, originating from places like Brazil, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, are more transmissible than the original virus, meaning they are more contagious. This poses a threat to the COVID-19 vaccines we are currently distributing, as there is a chance the 95% efficacy that was found in the clinical trials may be lowered due to new variants of the virus. Now, possibly more than ever, social distancing, double-masking if you can, and getting vaccinated when it is available to you is crucial to preventing another huge surge of cases like we saw during the past holiday season.
The good news? There is officially an end in sight to the struggles, pain, and sickness of the past 12 months. An unimaginable amount of lives have been lost to COVID-19, but as the vaccine makes its way through our population and case numbers continue to go down, we can slowly expect to begin to once again enjoy the activities we never thought we would have to go without for so long.
For more information on COVID-19, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
For questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html#:~:text=Because%20the%20supply%20of%20COVID,should%20get%20vaccinated%20first