The short-term, middle-term, and long-term future of the coronavirus
Last edited Sat Mar 6, 2021, 06:51 PM - Edit history (1)
When experts envision the future of the coronavirus, many predict that it will become a seasonal pathogen that won’t be much more than a nuisance for most of us who have been vaccinated or previously exposed to it.
...
However long it takes, the transition to a mild endemic virus is unlikely to be a straight line. Some infectious disease researchers envision a healthier summer — with low circulation of the virus and more people vaccinated — but a more tenuous fall. Other factors, like how long protection provided by vaccines will last, what percentage of people gets them, and whether variants of the virus sap the strength of vaccines, will determine the outcome.
These are not predictions that people fed up with the pandemic will want to hear. But at the same time, some experts are optimistic that the end of this phase — the crisis phase — is within sight, at least in this country, as vaccines reach more people and protect them from the worst outcomes of Covid-19.
...
The challenge might be recognizing what the “end” looks like. Some experts might mark it when daily deaths fall below a certain threshold or when hospitals are no longer facing crushes of cases. But there won’t be a single moment, like jolting awake from a nightmare, and we won’t be finished for good with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Gradually, fewer people will get sick, more activities will be considered safer, and something approaching normalcy will return.
https://www.statnews.com/2021/03/04/the-short-term-middle-term-and-long-term-future-of-the-coronavirus/
Those of us over 65 probably have as good a chance of dying of Covid as we do of heart disease, stroke, cancer or diabetes -- the other major ways to go.
Not necessarily this year, but eventually.
A lot of us will experience it as the event that moves us from independent living to assisted living / nursing home care. I have two cousins for which that has been the case already.
