Vaccine question

[Drawmelikeoneofyourfrenchgirls]

Something I am confused about, they say life will be relatively normal come spring/summer with the vaccine in place but given they are only vaccinating the elderly/vulnerable for the first while anyway I don’t understand how this will be? Surely the virus will still be prevalent in the under 50s and yes I do understand we are not as vulnerable to serious effects but surely it will still be there? Are we just to get on with life and deal with it if it happens?

My understanding is yes. The main reason for all the restrictions is hospital capacity. Covid clearly targets the older and those with certain vulnerabilities. I think the idea is that by making sure that as many as possible of the at risk groups are vaccinated then that will allow the rest of us to go back to some kind of normality. That said I think/hope there will be a plan to vaccinate the rest of us (under 50s) by the end of the year. Once that is done, covid will not disappear but will continue to circulate at a very low level. I don't think there's any expectation that we can get rid of it completely. That's only ever been done with smallpox.

@Frazzled2207 thank you. I think my main concern is the continuation of all the measures, social distancing etc. Plus if the elderly and vulnerable are all vaccinated then the restrictions are all lifted surely the virus will still run riot thru the under 50s?

Yes I think (hope) that once the elderly and vulnerable are vaccinated it'll be up to the individual to decide what risks they're prepared to take.
Perhaps there'll be mild illness with few hospitalisations through the summer, then more problems for the NHS in the winter. Who knows?

Its an experiment really but we can't carry on with restrictions indefinitely .