General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhen do you think we will be back to normal?
Joe Biden mentioned that in July we have a strong possibility of a swift easing of the COVID guidelines but anti vaxxers and usual COVID skeptics are trying hard to make this pandemic last a couple of years longer. When do you guys see us getting out of this mess?
Bev54
(9,957 posts)now we have that damn variant that is taking hold and even our children are getting sick and dying. With all the dick heads out there refusing to get vaccinated, I am fearing for our future.
leftieNanner
(14,997 posts)We have a vacation (!!!) scheduled in your fair country. A rail trip from Vancouver to Calgary.
Hope we can go.
Bev54
(9,957 posts)I hope you can take that trip as well. I used to live outside Vancouver and now live in Calgary. I took the trip several years ago and it was fantastic! Calgary, or Alberta as a whole, is in bad shape and we have an idiot for a Premier.
Ocelot II
(115,267 posts)leftieNanner
(14,997 posts)was doing better. Our numbers were lower and holding fairly steady. Now the numbers are going up again and on Friday we go from High danger to Extreme (official terms). This means the gym will be closed again as well as dining inside restaurants etc.
We have our share of idiots here and plenty of anti-vaxxers.
Makes me really sad. I was just starting to feel like I could have a life again - not so cranky all the time. We are just past our two weeks post-vaccine and I relished working out for three whole days.
I hope we will do better and get back to "normal" by July.
waddirum
(976 posts)This pandemic has permanently altered our normal.
rurallib
(62,342 posts)Peppertoo
(435 posts)I think most stuff will be back by July. With the exception of mask use, we will be largely done with Covid this fall.
TomSlick
(11,032 posts)May it be as you predict.
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)RobinA
(9,874 posts)2021, my guess is the end of next year - 2022. But Ive been wrong before.
SWBTATTReg
(21,856 posts)down the road, and after several more mini-epidemics of Covid 19 too, in mostly rural areas where the anti-vaccine sentiment seems to be the strongest. I am hoping of course I'm wrong, but realistically...
ananda
(28,781 posts)to do whatever the hell they want and make sure
they can keep on doing that with laws that make
sure Reeps keep winning.
BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)The way and where people work has changed. Some will continue to work at home. Women's roles and salaries have changed again (in wrong direction). Our shopping habits and what we buy and when we buy it has changed. The places/cities where we live have changed rules and the rules will stay changed. Transportation has changed. Planning when to have a baby or buy a house has changed. Choosing when and how to retire has changed. Schools and teaching has changed. Technology has changed as well as tech infrastructure. The list goes on and on.
The problem may arise where we will have to decide which changes are from Covid, which are due to Team tRump, and some are a combination of the two.
As long as variants are out there we will be in limbo for a while.
brush
(53,467 posts)We'll all have to get yearly shots like we do with the flu because magats won't get vaccinated...until they get it and have infected others who refuse.
And then it's wash, rinse, repeat over and over and over.
DFW
(54,050 posts)Their "reasons" for not getting vaccinated are usually regurgitated BS from Fox or National Hate Radio.
I wouldn't dream of forbidding them from infecting each other, if that's their intention. But their rights stop at the point where they infect someone who does not WANT to be infected. If they have no problem with that (God's will, I don't care WHAT justification they used for desiring another round. Their treatment should be paid for in advance and by no insurer, or else refused. If they have no inhibitions about committing their slow version of Russian Roulette and mass murder, I have no inhibitions about forbidding them from benefiting from sudden bouts of buyer's remorse.
Deuxcents
(15,776 posts)I think that if this virus was taken seriously n we had leadership in the beginning, wed be a lot better off. I, too, ask..what is normal? I just wish some people would use good common sense. That would help a lot. Personally, I will be wearing my mask n keeping my distance even being fully vaccinated. This is a dangerous n unpredictable virus.
Kablooie
(18,571 posts)The first is achievable perhaps by the end of the year.
The second may not be achieved during our lifetimes.
DFW
(54,050 posts)The national psyche has undergone some Republican cosmetic surgery, and it went badly.
Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)The vaccine rate is quite high. All restrictions on business are being dropped May 19, except for indoor masks. I think they will be gone by July 1. I think it will be a normal summer.
kacekwl
(6,993 posts)Who has the answer ? Republicans who thought nothing at all should have changed in a full blown pandemic. Dr. Fauci ? Joe Biden ? When and if it happens we will know.
IcyPeas
(21,737 posts)Imagine you start feeling flu-like next fall/winter... are you going to think "covid" or "flu"
How will we know?
Iggo
(47,486 posts)When I finally get to a place where Im catching colds again, that first sniffle and cough is going to be different.
TraceNC
(254 posts)going to live like we did pre-pandemic. Even if we eradicated Covid, we wouldnt go back to that life. But we arent going to eradicate it and well likely be living with variants for a long time, maybe forever. We will have to learn to adapt to that, and maybe thatll be what we think of as normal.
Mr.Bill
(24,103 posts)Some of the restaurants around here have built outdoor dining spaces that are permanent. Some cities have closed streets to vehicle traffic to make space for outdoor dining and may remain that way. I think social distancing is also something that people like and will continue to some degree.
Some food packaging they are doing, like putting donuts in individual plastic containers at the bakery would be nice if they continued it.
And it goes without sying that some of the inflation we are seeing is here to stay, which is not good.
BlueSpot
(851 posts)I think a lot of those kids will need to be vaccinated before we can reach herd immunity in the US. Too many stupid people are delaying this. And that's just local. It's a global problem. We might get to herd immunity here and then some mutation comes out of a third world country that defeats our vaccines. We need to stop it everywhere. What's happening in India now will happen somewhere else later. We have to chase it and squash it like a bug in every corner of the planet. When we've done that, I'll feel pretty good.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)Here's what I've been saying for a year or more. Pretend it's the spring of 1939 and you and I are planning a trip next year to Europe. We can hardly wait. It's going to be wonderful. We've been saving, working extra jobs for some time now. We are still working on the final plans for this trip.
Then September rolls around. A new war in Europe starts, soon to be called WWII. Oh, crap. Clearly we are not going to Europe next year, but we remain hopeful that this stupid war will end soon, and we'll be able to take that trip in 1941. But as you who are reading this already know, that war does not end soon. It drags on and on, gets worse and more awful every day. It does finally end in May, 1945, after enormous destruction. Clearly our long planned trip to Europe will not take place before 1946, maybe a year or more later. And when we finally go, we will see a Europe vastly different from the one we might have seen in 1939. Nothing is the same. Everything is different.
And so, I suggest, will be the same with this pandemic. Yes, I know this is very different from my WWII analogy, but I will stick to the underlying premise: things will change, and will change far more than we would have anticipated.
Here's something else to think about. Where you are in your life's journey matters enormously. I happen to be 72 years old, retired, living a quiet life that is barely affected by this. Those of you in a much earlier point, with young children, or without kids but in the throes of your career, are in a vastly different place. These things matter.
But I still go back to my WWII metaphor, and I honestly think it's a valid way to look at what's going on.
VarryOn
(2,343 posts)Except my employer still requires us to wear a mask if we are up and moving around. As a glasses-wearer, the fogging up is quite annoying. Once the mask requirement at the office goes away, I'll feel like I've returned to normal.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)My vaccine is over 95% effective against me getting the virus if exposed. And basically no hospitalizations or deaths if I do. Variants included.
There will still international restrictions since we are doing so much better than most other nations with the vaccine. But I will be able to travel as I have the vaccine.
Might we need boosters? Sure. But I get a flu vaccine every year. I wont let the 20% of Americans who wont get the vaccine from keeping my from returning to my normal life to protect them.
Once everyone who wants it has it Im done with the mask wearing unless new data changes my opinion.
OhioChick
(23,218 posts)But I heard we might have "some sense of normalcy" at the end of 2022.
TheFarseer
(9,308 posts)But vaccinations are stalling out before reaching herd immunity. Now we might need a vaccine for variants and I am willing to bet even less people get it. So who knows?