When Will The COVID-19 Pandemic End?

The highly infectious and deadly respiratory virus that originated in Wuhan City, China, has been a virus that led the whole world to a new norm of wearing masks and staying socially distant from each other. For a year now, SARS-CoV-2 that resulted in COVID-19 continues to spread and affect other countries. Aside from its fast spread, it is dreaded for its ability to create new variants that are also highly contagious.

On the 11th of March 2020, COVID-19 was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic—meaning a disease that made it to a worldwide scale—infecting millions of people. Media outlets worldwide were quick to include it in their headlines, which brought anxiety to people. On the other hand, governments were quick to give travel ban orders from flights coming from countries that have records of the deadly disease. Standard operating procedures such as thermal scans, fit to fly COVID tests, and fit to fly certificates were the norm in the airlines to check on a person’s health before entering or leaving a country.

Some countries immediately gave orders for work suspension that resulted in community lockdowns to avoid direct contact because coronavirus cases skyrocketed despite the health protocols strictly followed by people. On the other hand, health experts created PCR tests to check if the flu-like symptoms of a person are directly related to COVID-19.

Fast forward to the beginning of 2021; several vaccines were already given by the WHO the authorization for “emergency use.” These vaccines are Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Oxford, and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19. Health experts saw these vaccines to answer the people’s question of when the pandemic will end.

Learn more about COVID-19 testing and the vaccines for emergency use by looking at this infographic.