The corona pandemic
is now more than a year old. The WHO has reported more than 2 million deaths
worldwide. Regardless of how it started and how it spread the question some
people are asking is when we will be completely rid of it. The way this
scenario has unfolded is really mind boggling. It has actually become difficult
to imagine life without the corona virus. Humans of course eventually can get
used to anything and any situation. So are we going to live in the shadow of
this pandemic forever? It has shown itself to be adept at circumventing
measures that are taken for its destruction.
It has mutated
significantly in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Some of the vaccines
developed in the world are finding it difficult to prove their efficacy against
the new strains. While it will help the scientists to learn more about the
origins of the virus, tackling the new strains is fast becoming a priority.
Data from the earlier days of the pandemic is not forthcoming. Scientists are of the opinion that this virus
is going to stay with us for a long time. Lock downs have already become a
norm. The on and off policy regarding lockdowns are just government reactions
to the unpredictable behavior of the virus. The world has had pandemics before
this one but there is no data to analyze and draw conclusions. We are still
shooting in the dark on this one.
The vaccine roll
out has begun and the efficacy of the various doses made by different companies
is still being studied. One ray of hope offered by most leading epidemiologists
is that eventually humans will develop immunity for the virus and it will stop
being as destructive as it is today. But this is only a hope. Also the time
frame for this is not known. There is no precedent for this, so the answer is
going to be difficult to find.
One day everyone in
the world will be inoculated against the virus, but whether this will stop the
virus is not known. Scientists say that we may have to live with the Corona
virus for a long time. More variants of the virus are expected on a regular
basis. Every year some humans on earth will be infected by this virus like any
common cold or flu viruses which have been infecting humans for ages. Corona
infections will be a routine in the future. Humans have to be ready for this
new norm. Today it is the corona, tomorrow it could be some other virus. The face mask and the distancing will be a
permanent fixture of our social behavior.
In fact some experts are saying that we will have to forget about the
way we used to live in the pre-corona days. The new norms are the new
normal. The post corona normal times
have started.
