Ever since COVID-19 became a mainstream issue, news networks everywhere have been covering it almost non-stop. Whether you heard it on the news or from a friend, you have probably heard something along the lines of “once the vaccine is out, we can go back to normal.” Is this true? Well, it depends on what you mean by “normal.” I would define it as everything going back to how it was pre-pandemic. If this is also your definition, it seems like it may not be the case once a vaccine is released. In some ways, things will never be normal again and many people’s lives will be drastically different.

First of all, we still don’t have a definitive estimate for when there can be a widespread release of a vaccine. Some experts say a few months, some say over a year. Besides, the vaccine itself may not be super effective. To be released, the vaccine only has to work in half of the cases. If such medication was released and everyone got vaccinated, half of the population would still be vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. Additionally, there will likely be a decent portion of the population that will refuse to take the vaccine. Although governments and corporations are already talking about restrictions for those who refuse it, there’s only so much they can do. They cannot just completely block off those who won’t get the vaccine from the rest of the population, and with most studies finding that only around 57 percent of Americans saying they would take the vaccine, this could become a real problem.

Even if the number of new cases goes to zero, things will still be dramatically different. Projected United states death tolls by the start of 2021 range from about 277,000 to 427,000, the latter of which is over one percent of the US population. Experts also project a high unemployment rate of around 6.6 percent throughout the next year, which is almost double what it was before COVID. Many smaller companies that were relying on a steady monthly income will be out of business and we will see a wave of new businesses opening up. It is likely that sanitation procedures will change to reduce the total number of sick people, especially during flu season. However, will all the grim negative changes, some good may come out of it as well. Online events may become the new norm, such as concerts or classes. Now that teachers have learned to use online materials, they will be able to post things online for kids who are absent, making it easier for them to catch up on missing work and stay on top of their schedules.

The COVID-19 vaccine may not be the solution for things returning back to normal and even after the cases start fading out, some things will change permanently. It will be on the citizens to follow regulations and make the transition to post-pandemic times as smooth as possible. Things will most likely never be the same again after this pandemic, and everybody will have to find ways to adjust. With major complications such as those who are anti-vaccinations and the potential ineffectiveness of an approved vaccine, we shouldn’t rely too much on our lives completely reverting back to how they were before.