Covid Predictions for 2021

[Thewiseoneincognito]

Behold! A New Year cometh! What do you think will come our way in 2021? Intrigued to hear people’s opinions, I’ll go first...

1. Possible full UK lockdown with school closures once the devastation from Christmas mixing becomes apparent early January. We may see harsher restrictions come in to play too.

2. Vaccine successes and failures. With so many companies coming forward with various concoctions it is a given that there will be issues with at least some of them. I have a feeling the virus may well adapt too. Vaxxed people letting their guard down only to find themselves not as immune as first hoped.

3. More mutations particularly as people who have already had it get reinfected and pass it on. The odds seem stacked against us so I’m expecting a nastier mutation in 2021.

4. A fourth National Lockdown possibly around May/ June depending how long the third lasts for.

5. Furlough scheme extended indefinitely perhaps morphed into a universal basic income once it becomes evident certain industries will not be returning for a very long time (theatres, clubs, live music venues etc)

6. High street catastrophe following another longer hard lockdown.

7. Unrest as people split into believers and non believer camps. I expect more prolific calling out those who refuse to wear masks or comply with restrictions.

8. A breakthrough or realisation that may shift everyone’s perception and understanding significantly.

9. Widespread NHS recruitment drive to deal with new reality of constant covid patients. The key to future lockdowns being less drastic is a more robust NHS.

10. exam cancellations. Current Yr 11s have missed an awful lot of key learnings for GCSE

You're a natural pessimist then.

@clippery I prefer realist

Jesus what a depressing list - any chance of even one positive thought?

You’re revelling in the doom and gloom!!

Pessimists always say that

I think your cynicism about the vaccine is misplaced.

This has to be sarcasm/ a wind up?!?!? Or do people like you actually exist? Furlough extended indefinitely who do you think is funding that? And as for all the other nonsense i suggest everyone just moves past this scaremongering post as there really is nothing to see here.

Extreme scaremongering is my prediction for 2021...

@Katie517 I recall back in February when at the idea of a lockdown people balked and said who will pay for that it would never happen. Et voila, here we are, Furlough extended until March at least. I’m keen to read your predictions though 😃

Bloody hell! I thought I was pretty pessimistic but this is something else

Okayyy

Is it pessimism or realism? Surely this list isn’t too much of a stretch to envision happening? If someone had told you exactly 1 year ago that this would be our reality would you have believed them? We’ve had a wild ride for 2020 and the unbelievable is now believable.

The vaccines will work, if they don't the hidden Plan B of letting covid circulate and build immunity in younger generations will.

People will return to work, if you don't have a job you'll be encouraged to retrain. Universal income already exists it's called Universal Credit. People will not be given loads of money for doing nothing. Not to mention, where would the money come from?

In times gone by before we had vaccines, antibiotics and ICU people got on with life and prayed that things would be ok.

We cannot and will not live like this forever.

Ok, I’ll join in the wild, groundless speculation:

1. Most people will get the vaccine.

1. The number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths will fall significantly.

1. The remaining case numbers can be dealt with within existing capacity of the NHS.

1. Restrictions lifted in stages from around Spring 2021.

1. Economy screwed but begins to recover from second quarter of 2021.

@Thewiseoneincognito the difference is that has already happened and the economy is screwed the money has long since ran out we will pay for this for decades! It was supposed to be a short term solution not a new way of life. My predictions are
1)Scaremongering and panic rife end of dec a early Jan (fueled by media and lockdown lovers who fail to realise the NHS is overwhelmed every winter).
2) oxford vaccine approval in next few days
3) tier 4 England wide Jan with secondary school closures
4) gradual easing of tiers up to spring
5) a good degree of normality back by early summer
6) doom mongers and lockdown fanatics find a new obsession so we don’t have to hear their nonsense anymore- hopefully asap!

Oh, and:

1. The Tories get their arses handed to them at the 2024 general election.

@Bikingbear I hope you are right about the vaccine working, I really do.

Oh god why do I look at posts like this? It sends my anxiety into overdrive

@AnxiousAlpaca definitely stay away from the Coronavirus threads!!!! 🌱

[quote Thewiseoneincognito]@Bikingbear I hope you are right about the vaccine working, I really do.[/quote]
They will. The monied Chinese have been able to buy them for months.

We are in for a rough ride until April, the better weather and the vaccine roll out will be the end of Covid lockdowns.

@AnxiousAlpaca

Oh god why do I look at posts like this? It sends my anxiety into overdrive

Just keep in mind that the OP is wildly speculating based on sweet f* all.

I think of a realist as a person that sees things as they are, accepts them and deals with them.

But you’re looking into the future and making assumptions, and they are all negative, I think you’re a pessimist.

My husband is like you too and I always ask him to make a note each time he ‘predicts’ something and then see how many actually happen.

Let’s revisit your list in a few months’ time.

@User647647 absolutely please revisit to see what comes of them.

I think we will be starting to get back to normal by the spring. A substantial amount of people should hopefully have been vaccinated by then and the warmer weather will help with people spending more time outside, having windows open and the return of natural vitamin D.

As they say the darkest hour is just before dawn, the next couple of months I can see being horrendous. The severity of that will depend largely on what happens with schools next week.