If there is never a vaccine how do you envisage your dcs future?

[incognitomum]

Because there might never be one.

And do you wish the UK had reacted like Sweden? I'm beginning to wish I lived there.

[Happyspud]

I think their future will be pretty normal. Life will go on. Some of us will get sick as we do with other bugs and viruses, some if us will get sick enough for hospital at times. But overall it will just become part of our normal lives.

[MrsKypp]

At least they are continually learning about Covid.

They are learning about different patterns of symptoms and how that can inform treatment, likely severity etc.

I have more faith in improved treatment than a magic vaccine. Even partial protection from a vaccine would be good though, as long as it's safe.

No, I don't wish I lived in Sweden. If it was Scandinavia, I'd prefer Norway. You can't compare them with the UK though, too many differences e.g. population density, class sizes, more modern and well funded & resourced health care than the collapsing NHS etc etc etc

[LBOCS2]

It depends how the infection rate ends up as and what the immunity pans out to be.

I would imagine that over time it would end up as an illness not unlike chicken pox. In that the young will get it, mostly uneventfully, and the majority of the population will have some natural immunity as they will have had it in the past, and even if they do get it again it'll be more mild.

There will be outliers, both in the young and the adult population who didn't have it when they were kids, but that's the case with other illnesses, hence my chicken pox analogy.

[WalesAppearsToBeSlightlySaner]

My main fear is the splits in our society cause it to fracture. I’m far more scared of people who happily report on their neighbours for minor rule breaking or judge people who are struggling with mental health than I am the virus.

[incognitomum]

WalesAppearsToBeSlightlySaner totally agree with you.

[MinaMurray]

Well, presumably eventually enough people will have had it for herd immunity to work. So even without a vaccine the current situation isn’t going to be a forever thing.

And in the meantime, the doctors are continuing to learn more about Covid, which should lead to improved treatments for people who are severely affected by it.

[bengalcat]

I’d say their future will be fine . Jobs and the economy will recover and at some stage in the future Covid will burn out and at some stage another new virus will pop up .

[Firef1y72]

I'm guessing there will come a point, in the not too distant future, when the majority of people will realise that this is not going to just disappear and will decide enough is enough. All we are doing right now is slowing the process of it circulating down. Even with a vaccine it won't be eradicated.
There will be a tipping point where the short term chaos of it running rampant will be the lesser evil to lives being in this constant non-natural state.

[SallySeven]

Yes to chicken pox analogy.

I had it badly and had post viral syndrome for a long while and now have to take care not to get low or I start on shingles.

Most people have it as a mild childhood illness and are mostly fine longer term.

Getting to that stage will be rocky on the infrastructure and individuals and is best done slowly.

[ThatDamnScientist]

Even if a vaccine isn't found, life saving treatments will be found (treatment research is running concurrently with vaccine research). We need to keep the levels down low enough to allow the scientists/medics to find these treatments (2 found already, one in use - they.just.need.time!).

[SallySeven]

Education has to be prioritised but can be moved into smaller groupings.

Business will have to adapt medium term because just pretending everything is normal won't stop a big segment of society keeping out of harm's way via internet shopping and entertainment.

We need to look at ventilation standards in public areas.

We can't pretend Lombardy didn't happen.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

I think it would just become another illness that we live with.

[Ifailed]

Bubonic plague made Covid-19 look like a minor cold, killing 33% of the European population, and it was only once antibiotics were discovered there was a treatment. The Human race faces far more serious problems than the current pandemic.

[TheLastStarfighter]

I think it will be fine. There will be either a vaccine or an effective treatment. The economy will recover.

I find I have anxiety over the short term, but see a much better outlook over the long term. However for the long term I am concerned that it has overshadowed other things with more long term effects like climate change.

[PinkMacaron]

I expect it'll be pretty much normal. If there's no vaccine we'll all just have get back to normal and learn to live alongside it. Just another thing amongst many that could make you ill / kill you on a daily basis.

[incognitomum]

SallySeven I had chicken pox when I was 32. I've never been so Ill. I definitely think it's affected me long term. Am so glad my dcs had it as children.

[SallySeven]

Yes I live with the effects.

[Natsku]

I expect effective treatments will be found and it won't be such a worry. Life will be pretty much normal. Glad I'm not in Sweden though, I'm next door in Finland and the consensus here is that Sweden has managed things poorly, having far higher levels than in Finland, and it didn't even save their economy compared to Finland at least (compared to the UK, yeah but the UK is so very different to Sweden its not a good comparison)

[MadameBlobby]

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

I think it would just become another illness that we live with.

This. Once it’s not a novel illness any more it will become less severe generally but something that might have outbreaks where it picks off some of the older and more vulnerable.

[Porcupineinwaiting]

If there is no vaccine then cv will (slowly or quickly) pass through the population after which it will largely subside, just flaring up hre and there every now and then, just like other similar viruses. Maybe there'll be better treatments available so it will be less lethal. And life will continue.

[MadameBlobby]

I had chicken pox as an adult and have had a terrible predisposition to chest infections ever since. Don’t fancy Covid!

[TokyoSushi]

This will pass.

Yes, it'll become something like chickenpox, for the vast majority of people, it will be relatively mild. It's just something we're going to have to live with. We can't carry on like this forever.

[Porcupineinwaiting]

We cant carry on like this for ever

Why do people keep bleating this? There's never been any suggestion that we live like this "forever," we are just being asked to make some changes for 12-18 months.

[IcedPurple]

@Porcupineinwaiting

We cant carry on like this for ever

Why do people keep bleating this? There's never been any suggestion that we live like this "forever," we are just being asked to make some changes for 12-18 months.

Where did you get that exact time frame from?

[MaxNormal]

we are just being asked to make some changes for 12-18 months.

"Just"?
God, people here really are happy in their little privileged bubbles.