We’re coming upon a year since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 virus a pandemic and we’ve continued to quarantine, wear masks, practice social distancing by keeping 6 feet of distance between us, homeschool and work from home, among many other things. The virus is still active around the country, but with the vaccines becoming more readily available, experts say if all goes as planned (or hoped) the COVID-19 virus will be "manageable" by the end of 2021 — manageable meaning it’s a virus comparable to the flu.
But what does that mean for our everyday lives? What will our new normal look like?
We’ve done a bit of research on what our post-pandemic world will look like and though it’s not all rosy (just being honest), it’s definitely not all bad either. Things can change and advances in tackling COVID-19 are being made weekly, so the information we’re sharing here is what is known as of today, in the early part of 2021. Like everyone, we’re hoping for updates and advanced ways to combat COVID-19, including a vaccine for everyone, so we can all be safe. That being said, here’s how some important areas of our lives will look in a post pandemic world.
Getting the vaccine is a great first step, but it’s not permission to go back to life pre-COVID-19 yet.
“Progress on vaccines gives us all a lift and we can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization about the COVID-19 vaccines during a media briefing on December 4, 2020.
That being said, it’s widely thought that once you get the vaccine, you’re safe to get back to pre-COVID ways of life. But that’s not true. Experts caution that once you get the vaccine, you should continue to wear a mask and practice social distancing. In reality, it will take some time to learn exactly how well the vaccines (from pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer, so far) work and protect people. Right now, experts say they can see that the vaccines protect people from getting noticeably sick. “Even after you get vaccinated it’s important to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in its article, “Key Things to Know About COVID Vaccines.”
It’ll take even longer to get to the point they’re calling “herd immunity” which will allow us all to relax a bit and possibly not have to wear our masks. According to the CDC, herd immunity means that enough people in a community are protected from getting a disease because they’ve already had the disease or because they’ve been vaccinated. Herd immunity makes it hard for the disease to spread from person to person, and it even protects those who cannot be vaccinated, like newborns or people who are allergic to the vaccine.
“Experts do not yet know what percentage of people would need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19,” says the CDC, which is studying herd immunity for COVID-19 and will provide more information as it is available.
Getting medical care will probably change.
A large part of our medical care post-pandemic will be via telemedicine. If you’re not in an emergency situation, it’s likely that you’ll be seeing your doctor on your computer more often than you see her in person. In the modern age of health care, we’ll all be expected to be fluent users of online health care. This will be especially true for patients over 60.
Also, more regular remote care will be done by a team of doctors, said Greg Poland, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic. The team model “allows me to see more patients more efficiently,” he said. “If everyone has to come to the office and wait for the nurse to bring them in from the waiting room, well, that’s an inherent drag on my productivity.”
Stay-in-place orders have put traveling on everyone's mind.
Vaccinated people can — and should — look forward to resuming aspects of life that have been on hold for the last year, like travel. Experts have projected that we’ll be able to do more things like small vacations starting this spring and continuing through the end of the year, conditions should get better and better. One expert gave an example of being able to plan a short, family getaway in spring, as well as being able to and host our usual Thanksgiving celebrations in the fall.
Experts predict post-pandemic travel will be more popular than overseas travel. They also think people will overall prefer to travel by car, opting for road trips instead of flying. Others are convinced that when it’s safer to travel, people will just be ready to go.
Going on a cruise? Expect a combination of health and safety precautions being openly demonstrated by the ship's employees. Passengers — as well as cruise employees — will likely have to prove they’ve been vaccinated before traveling.
Opportunities and venues for safe social activity will become huge post-COVID.
We’ve been in isolation for so long and we’re all missing the opportunities to be with other people, have playdates, share meals, share a drink at a bar, and share other activities. For our mental and physical health to thrive, we need one another. There’s expected to be an increase in open air spaces where people can safely gather and socialize. Cities will be challenged to provide better public spaces that are functional but still allow for safe interpersonal communication as residents are changing the way they live and work.
Speaking of work, another major change for many is the discovery that we can work from home.
It’s been a long time coming, but it’s been a revelation over the past year that computer-based and phone-based work can be done from anywhere. While some industries have been open to working from home for years, a wave of employers have had to embrace remote work situations more recently.
How’s it going? We can’t decide whether we’ll keep or leave Zoom meetings, and yes, there are some of us who miss getting dressed for work, leaving the house, and having a separation between our home and professional lives. In our post-pandemic world, it looks like home offices will continue to help us tackle the challenges that have been presented to us all.
We love the big box stores, but supporting local shops will be embraced even more.
If you’re a big box shopper, then you know that stores like Target and Walmart have been relatively busy. Folks have been shopping in person but even more online for everything from toothpaste to T-shirts, and that will continue. But in our post-pandemic lives, neighborhood and small town retail, markets and restaurants will also draw loyal customers. According to Christopher Muller, a hospitality professor at Boston University, customers will be drawn to local shop owners they know and trust to be clean and safe.
Everyday goods and services will continue to be delivered. Embracing grocery delivery services like Instacart, and meal delivery kits including Home Chef will continue to be a mainstay.
Families will generally move closer together.
It was once easier to hop on a plane to visit distant family once or twice a year, but COVID-19 has made that difficult, to say the least. In our post-pandemic world, experts predict families will be looking to move within driving distance of each other. A lot more families will have different generations living together, as more seniors are expected to leave assisted living facilities and nursing homes which haven’t been the safest places for them during the pandemic.
If you are vaccinated and someone in your household has COVID-19, experts say you're in a good position to bring them food and drink, check their temperature, and even keep them company while watching TV. Since getting the vaccine, there's only a tiny chance you'll get infected, particularly if you continue to wear a mask and wash your hands frequently, as health care workers do.
Indoor maskless events are still on pause.
In the near future, hopefully those indoor maskless events we once took for granted, will happen again. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, the chances of having indoor maskless events that do not cause a spread of the virus highly depends on how careful people remain during the vaccine rollout, and how many people are willing to get it once they are able. He has said we'll need 75% to 85% of Americans to get vaccinated to "crush" the virus. Researchers say the more people get vaccinated, the more we’ll learn in real time.
We'll have to embrace a new normal for the future.
“Unfortunately COVID-19 is likely here to stay, much like the common cold,” ABC News contributor emergency medicine physician, Dr. Darien Sutton, told Good Morning America on February 18, 2021. “Viruses like COVID-19 tend to persist through time and this is kind of typical for viruses … much like malaria, measles, and influenza.”
Dr. Sutton shared that we’ll likely see COVID-19 but likely not at the level of severity as it is now. “There are many theories about what our future will look like … I think some of the more common ones, that make more sense, maybe we’ll start to see smaller outbreaks that happen in the future given that we’ll have a higher level of surveillance as time goes on. And other theories include that as population immunity increases whether through natural immunity exposure and vaccine use, we’ll start to see just a mild version of COVID-19 and be protected against these severe versions of COVID-19.”
Eventually, mask usage will likely fade, Debra Goff, an infectious disease pharmacist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Business Insider. Goff also predicts the pandemic has made face coverings more socially acceptable for those people who are immunocompromised or otherwise susceptible to viral illnesses to wear them in the United States going forward. "That's a good thing," she said.
*Disclaimer: The advice on Cafemom is not a substitute for consultation with a medical professional or treatment for a specific condition. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem without consulting a qualified professional. Please contact your health-care provider with questions and concerns.
