I can now see a way out of covid!

[Icanseegreenshoots]

I can see the route out this spring and summer.

Those in the vulnerable groups and the elderly will be vaccinated soon, and whilst the rest of the country is being vaccinated - which will take some time the following could happen -

Schools will introduce bi weekly mass testing to stay open. Teachers will be vaccinated which means they will never close again.

Restaurants will ask for on the spot 15 minute tests before seating people, ditto all public venues. Mass testing will become part and parcel of our lives everything from music festivals to theatre shows will include a test regardless if you have had a vaccine or not.

The testing will become so common place we will not blink as we wait in careful lines to be admitted into places. Every company that works away from home will adopt their own policies.

Travel will be replicated by many tests and careful procedures allowing people to travel once again.

Masks will eventually be replaced with testing and vaccines, but they will still be used on public transport and other areas. We will largely be in control of all infection by this point, and drive it down to very very low numbers allowing for society to hug, dance and enjoy life once again.

This is the best case scenario in my view - and one I hope will be our reality soon enough.

@Icanseegreenshoots

Restaurants unless they are very big and busy would not need to use them, but theatres and other places with lots of people could offer them as a way to reopen gwen

That's crazy If you've got hundreds of people going to see show at the theatre, how on earth would that work? And would people be doing the 2m rule of this? Practically, let alone ethically, it's not poss.

@Icanseegreenshoots

If you go to a festival and sign a disclaimer and take your test - and test negative. Assuming you are young and healthy why would you be worried?! Even in the very worst case there is a slight risk you catch it, you are ill and you recover as you would with anything else.

Grannies that are not vaccinated and go to festivals and catch it take that chance themselves. They sign a disclaimer and know the risks.

We are not going to be living in a closed society for very much longer. Sorry to those that are enjoying being locked up, but really it is coming to an end.

People lie! People would lie on a disclaimer. The general public are all very different

Testing to use a restaurant. I will never go. The test is not very pleasant so not worth it for me.

You are stating all these theories you have as fact. I would love to know where you are getting all your predictions.

I read ALOT imina and have lots of friends who work in the NHS and in medicine generally. They are not exactly theories, given lateral testing is already being used in every hospital in the land (15 minute tests) and the vaccine has been rolling out now for over a month already!

I would say they were more than 'theories' and predications. I am feeling incredibly optimistic we will soon be over the worst, and on the other side of this lockdown and pandemic. Thanks to the great work of scientists in this country.

Do you think children will eventually be vaccinated?

Do you think many restaurants, festivals and events will return? That's my worry.

Few if any festivals will take place this year as they can’t get insurance to cover their events

blue yes I do, once they are given the green light. Otherwise the pandemic will literally never end. Every child will eventually become infected otherwise, which is not a problem as most are fine but for the few that won't be - and the relentless cycle of sickness - it would be better to vaccinate everyone if it is safe to do so.

Stealth hundred per cent everything will return, the ones already failing will probably not survive, but the best will and will grow stronger after this.

I do think small festivals will go ahead, our local one did last summer, just on a very small scale. Bigger festivals will return in 2022.

Yes I previously thought they wouldnt vaccinate children. But actually it does need to be eliminated otherwise there will be too much opportunity for it to mutate. And some children will have a poor outcome or become very ill. So not sure how practical it is to just vaccinate adults, then open everything up and let the children get ill

@Bluegot

Yes I previously thought they wouldnt vaccinate children. But actually it does need to be eliminated otherwise there will be too much opportunity for it to mutate. And some children will have a poor outcome or become very ill. So not sure how practical it is to just vaccinate adults, then open everything up and let the children get ill

Once enough people are vaccinated, we do not all have to be.

I think that Foxy is completely correct. Even Chris Whitty said in his last press conference that eventually we will reach a stage when society decides what is an acceptable level of risk. This to me is a much more positive message than "eliminate the virus at all possible costs". Hopefully as spring progresses and summer starts we will be in a much better place.

@FoxyTheFox

It will eventually end up being treated in the same way we treat the flu. Those who are vulnerable will be offered a yearly vaccine, possibly bundled into the same syringe as the flu one so you have one jab instead of two. Those who want the jab but don't qualify to get it free can pay to have it done at Tesco/Boots/the pharmacy/wherever. Everyone else will just get on with it. There will eventually be no isolation, no testing (unless hospitalised where they'd test to guide diagnosis and treatment), and no quarantining, winter will be known as flu and covid season.

Yep, I think this is the most likely scenario. Hopefully we’ll get there soon!

I think the current lockdown and restrictions will start seeing gradual easements from early Spring/Easter-ish, a lot of easements over the summer when numbers drop right down, and then partial restrictions for schools going back in September when we know numbers will go up simply due to increased mingling at school/work.

I reckon for winter 21/22 there might be some fairly mild restrictions if hospital admissions get too high (e.g., masks for indoor public spaces, CEV people advised to avoid crowded spaces) but by Spring 2022 - once the covid vaccine programme is assimilated into the flu vaccine programme and its all running as smoothly as these things are able to run - there will be no restrictions at all from that point on and it'll just be treated in the same way as a cold/flu - feel a bit shite for 3-7 days, rest up at home cursing whichever germy bastard infected you, and then tell everyone about how you were sick of your life, people will claim a cold was actually covid and so on. Some people will still sadly end up in hospital but that happens with normal seasonal viruses anyway and a normal seasonal virus is exactly what covid is going to become.