Will the World Ever be the Same Again?
January 21, 2021
In the wake of the Coronavirus, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort for the world to go back to some sort of normal. While it seems that COVID-19 is starting to come to a fortunate end, it doesn’t seem like the world will ever go completely back to what it once was.
Masks probably aren’t going away any time soon. While the idea of not having to wear a mask is very appealing, it’s unfortunate to say that I don’t think masks will be going away for good. Even though a vaccine is coming out, the fact that preparations for a pandemic like this were so weak, there’s a good chance that there will still be many people who will not take any chances in large groups. Eventually, like the pandemics in the past, people will transition to a less cautious lifestyle, but it makes sense to predict that most people will keep wearing masks for at least a couple of months after 80% of the population has been vaccinated. Take the Influenza pandemic of the 1900s. While it might’ve been a huge issue at the time, no one gets scared for their life when they get the flu now. While the difference is that the strain of influenza in that epidemic isn’t as common now, that specific epidemic goes to show how people can return to some sort of normal after a pandemic. However, it will take time, and people will have to be more cautious when it comes to large gatherings and traveling to other countries.
There’s also the issue of anti-vaxxers. I don’t know who would refuse to get the vaccine for a worldwide pandemic, but based on history, there are going to be people who will refuse to get the vaccine. Whether they think it’ll give you the bird flu or that it has trackers in it, some people aren’t going to be immunized. This is going to cause more danger even for those of us that are immunized considering that there is still a chance of getting COVID even with the vaccine. Surveys provided in the sources below show that there are a good number of people that will not get vaccinated.
Certain social habits probably won’t make a comeback as well. French people used to greet each other with kisses on the cheek. Then, COVID happened, and now that social habit is probably gone for good. It’s safe to say that even when COVID is gone, no one will be hugging strangers on the street. Not that you should ever hug a stranger, but it’s a definite no now. Some social habits are going to be a little obsolete after months of quarantine.
The vaccine is also taking a while to produce. They are making doses as quick as they can, but they still have to administer in waves, and everyone has to be vaccinated twice with several weeks in between. The truth is, it’s going to take a little bit of time for everyone to be immunized, and experts say that it won’t be safe to start relaxing COVID restrictions until about 80% of the population has been vaccinated. This is predicted to take a couple of months.
Then there’s the case with the economy and job losses. Lots of people lost their jobs during the shutdown. Many businesses closed and the economy took a fall. Just in the last couple of months 140,000 people lost their jobs. I do not think the vaccine can suddenly fix the economy, and it’s going to take a lot of work and a bit of government involvement to keep the US from falling into another Great Depression. The bad economic climate will most likely be temporary, however, people should be prepared, especially people in lower income households, that the economic normal they once had will not come back for a while.
Will the world ever go back to normal? That’s a very good question. Based on past experiences, people will find a relative normal eventually. How long it will take is a different story. The truth is, it will probably take a while to get back to how it was before COVID-19.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/30/health/back-to-normal-bias-wellness/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/17/governments-crisis-coronavirus-business
