We are all sick of hearing about covid-19. Wearing masks, not trusting anyone because they may be the person who infects us and makes us very ill has become a pandemic past-time. There is a lot of information and misinformation regarding the pandemic, the numbers, the death toll, and your personal which can vary greatly depending on your health, your nutrition, your blood type, and other genetic factors which are not fully understood. Some of us are judging how other areas of the country are running their states, even though the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths are trending down. Are states like Florida who are more open than many northern states and have had their children in school for the full school year using a healthier approach to finding normal and reaching the end of the pandemic sooner? So far, Florida's approach to having school has worked. In NYC, Bill Deblasio has said his numbers for covid-19 in schools are very low. Daily reports of viral variants are scaring many of us yet the numbers of those who get infected or die or are hospitalized trend lower nationally. There is not one thing that will end the pandemic but many. Vaccinations are picking up and incredibly, the USA has vaccinated well over 100,000 people with at least a first vaccine dose. More incredibly, the highest risk groups have largely been vaccinated, markedly reducing risk and bringing us closer to herd immunity. The long game is to either vaccinate naturally (you had covid-19 and recovered) or you were vaccinated. Growing evidence suggests those who had Covid-19 and have immunities will benefit from an additional single shot of one of the current vaccines to help them further boost immunity. Having immunity according to the CDC means you have little risk of another infection and if you are exposed, you will not require quarantine. As more of us develop immunity, we will be able to safely go to concerts again, hang out with friends both indoors and outdoors without worrying about becoming infected and all it entails. It is likely we are in the 7th or 8th inning of the pandemic and as more of us around the world develop immunity, life will return to a more normal mode. Will we live the way we used to? Only time will tell. How will we know when the pandemic is over? Check out this interesting article below. A Simple Rule of Thumb for Knowing When the Pandemic Is Over At some point—maybe even soon—the emergency phase of the pandemic will end. But what, exactly, is that magic threshold? ALEXIS C. MADRIGAL FEBRUARY 23, 2021 In the middle of January, the deadliest month of the pandemic, one day after inauguration, the Biden administration put out a comprehensive national strategy for “beating COVID-19.” The 200-page document includes many useful goals, such as “Restore trust with the American people” and “Mount a safe, effective, and comprehensive vaccination campaign.” But nowhere does it give a quantitative threshold for when it will be time to say, “Okay, done—we’ve beaten the pandemic.” A month later, it’s time to get specific. The facts are undeniable: The seven-day average of new cases in the United States has fallen by 74 percent since their January peak, hospitalizations have gone down by 58 percent, and deaths have dropped by 42 percent. Meanwhile, more than 60 million doses of vaccine have gone into American arms. At some point—maybe even some point relatively soon—the remaining emergency measures that were introduced in March 2020 will come to an end. But when, exactly, should that happen? Read more