Normal life will not resume by May

[LemonadeFromLemons]

The article below is brilliant at explaining what the vaccine will and will not do. Unfortunately, it also makes clear that it is going to be years not months until we are able to go back to normal. I would strongly encourage every person to read it to get the clear facts in an easy format:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-b6360f40-84f9-469b-b6a3-a4568e161c4f

Why do these discussions always obsess over masks? Other restrictions are much more damaging to society and the economy.

After March if you are vulnerable you will probably need to wear a mask. Everyone else should be able to go back to normal the risks are so so low for healthy young and middle aged people. I think they all feel they've done their bit now - we need to go back to living again

Average cloth mask doesn't protect the wearer as much as everyone else, so suggesting that people who are vulnerable can make do with mask wearing is either foolish or unkind

Yes, at some point people will sometimes die of covid, but I would rather people were open about it than pretend that the vulnerable can protect themselves easily

True, @IcedPurple, many people want to go back to things as they were. There are people like me though who are introverts and for the first time are living without the ‘noise’ and pressure to be out, meet people and live according to some marketing message of a ‘meaningful life’ as being a busy, social one.

I think when things are more relaxed, I will be more comfortable with my hermit life choices 😊. For the first time I’ve felt that being introverted is a positive, a sign of resilience vs somehow something I need to overcome

@gottakeeponmovin

After March if you are vulnerable you will probably need to wear a mask. Everyone else should be able to go back to normal the risks are so so low for healthy young and middle aged people. I think they all feel they've done their bit now - we need to go back to living again

Masks don’t protect the wearer.

Wearing masks does protect the wearer - and perhaps they need to take other measures I don't know. But the vast majority are not vulnerable. We all only live once and I want to get back to going out with my friends, going on holiday and even going to work. Once a large proportion of vulnerable have been vaccinated we should go back to normal. If that means some vulnerable have to be a little more careful until they've received the jab that is what they must do

No. They do not. We wear masks to stop other people catching OUR germs. They are next to pointless if only worn by the vulnerable.

Well seeing as the government have said once phase 1 of the vaccination plan has been completed we will be going back to normal I don’t think they can backtrack now.

This the same government that said we had an "oven ready" brexit deal?! You actually believe a word they say?

Nobody knows, it’s almost pointless speculating. Things will get worse after Christmas and then gradually better in to 2021. I think social distancing needs to stay, so that we can get back to a more normal life by summer. Fingers crossed.

@ProudAuntie76 the centre for disease control have been clear that the wearer is protected by the mask as it reduces possible inhalation if worn correctly

The two years was a worldwide prediction, here in the affluent west it will be quicker because we snapped up the vaccine. Assuming the Oxford one gets approved, there's capacity to vaccinate the very adult in just months, plus once all over 65's plus those younger with health conditions are vaccinated (mid March according to the schedule) they can relax restrictions a lot.

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html

This?

Still pretty clear the benefits are from a two pronged approach.

Masks for only the vulnerable has never been a suggestion. I’m a nurse, surgeons don’t wear masks all year round to protect themselves in theatre do they? It’s to protect the patient.

Masks don’t protect the wearer.

They would need N95+ masks. If this would be needed long term, it does make most sense that the vulnerable are the ones to mask, wearing filtered masks - if they choose to do so.

I’m sure masks will remain in place for visitors to hospitals and Gp settings for some time. Cant see them staying in shops. People will just stop when the rates go down, masks are only there by goodwill, it’s not possible to properly enforce . So I think life be more or less normal by the summer.

Foreign travel will take a few years to be anything like normal though .

If my job was a surgeon I would wear a mask for a specific length of time to do my job. It is not. I have no need of a mask and no intention to indefinitely wear one on the basis of a small amount of vulnerable people who are quite able to do what they need to do to protect themselves. The studies I have read were not on SARS just on the fact that wearing a mask does protect the wearer. But as a PP said there maybe specific masks that are more fit for purpose for the vulnerable

Theatres must come back without SD by the summer, or they won’t exist . Risk benefit situation there I think- if rates are low, they need to be open as normal.

@PicsInRed

Masks don’t protect the wearer.

They would need N95+ masks. If this would be needed long term, it does make most sense that the vulnerable are the ones to mask, wearing filtered masks - if they choose to do so.

They are currently rationed. We can’t get hold of them when nursing Covid positive patients in our nursing home. Even NHS staff are short of them. A doctor in her 20s died due to having to reuse her N95 over and over due to PPE shortages. You aren’t supposed to reuse. There’s over 1 million CEV on the original Shielding list and many more millions who are CV, of all ages. It’s going to be tough going getting hold of tens of millions of respirator masks on a regular basis.

But @auntie - by March many of the vulnerable will have been inoculated and additionally many NHS workers which will hopefully mean less demand for masks. Additionally they could shield for a few months until they get their jab. The rest of the world doesn't have to stop though.

@MadameBlobby
What about the countries who can’t afford vaccination? Surely we have a duty to help.

AstraZeneca has promised 940 million doses to developing countries and another 300 million to the COVAX initiative, according to Duke University's tracker. They will be sold at cost, which is approx $3 per dose. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being sold almost exclusively to rich countries at $20 - $37 per dose.

@gottakeeponmovin

But *@auntie* - by March many of the vulnerable will have been inoculated and additionally many NHS workers which will hopefully mean less demand for masks. Additionally they could shield for a few months until they get their jab. The rest of the world doesn't have to stop though.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccine don’t seem to reduce transmission, just severity of illness. Oxford MAY prevent transmission but has a poorer efficacy in the over 55s. None of the vaccines are 100% effective. Actually no vaccine is full stop. To make a really big dent in this pandemic, it’s not just the vulnerable who need vaccinated. It’s the vast majority of the population. The vulnerable have already Shielded for the best part of the year and most continue to. Mask wearing and social distancing will be needed until a large proportion of the non vulnerable are also vaccinated.

@gottakeeponmovin

But *@auntie* - by March many of the vulnerable will have been inoculated and additionally many NHS workers which will hopefully mean less demand for masks. Additionally they could shield for a few months until they get their jab. The rest of the world doesn't have to stop though.

Exactly. It would be a tiny subset who were both CEV and also unable to get the vaccine for some medical reason. The intersectionality there will be so, so small.

Production of surgical masks was ramped up to meet new demand, the same can happen with n95s. There are also reusable respiratory available to purchase.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccine don’t seem to reduce transmission, just severity of illness.

But that's the entire point. We aren't shielding from illness, we're shielding from severe illness. 🤔 Aren't we? Or has the mission shifted to "no illness is acceptable"?

@PicsInRed

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccine don’t seem to reduce transmission, just severity of illness.

But that's the entire point. We aren't shielding from illness, we're shielding from severe illness. 🤔 Aren't we? Or has the mission shifted to "no illness is acceptable"?

I think the mission overall is to stop this being a pandemic

@Loveyourideas

True, *@IcedPurple*, many people want to go back to things as they were. There are people like me though who are introverts and for the first time are living without the ‘noise’ and pressure to be out, meet people and live according to some marketing message of a ‘meaningful life’ as being a busy, social one.

I think when things are more relaxed, I will be more comfortable with my hermit life choices 😊. For the first time I’ve felt that being introverted is a positive, a sign of resilience vs somehow something I need to overcome

I'd consider myself an introvert too, though I didn't need a pandemic to tell me it's a perfectly valid mindset.

That said, I really dislike the way the word 'introvert' is thrown around these days (it's become very 'cool' to describe yourself as an introvert) as though the world were neatly divided between 'introverts' and 'extroverts'. Many introverts also enjoy cinema, theatre, travelling and meeting friends - being an introvert does not equal being a loner. And many work in professions badly impacted by lockdowns. The option has always been there to refuse social invitations if that's what you prefer.

Globally, it will take years, yes.

For the UK, it will happen more quickly. Providing that there are no unforeseen hold ups, we will definitely be well on the way to some level of normality by May. Social distancing/face masks will probably be gradually phased out. For the next couple of years, there may be a few localised outbreaks where small areas have to go back to wearing face masks/follow various restrictions but these won't affect the country at large.