The World Health Organization officially declared Covid a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
At that time, there were more than 29 million Covid cases in the US and 527,720 people died. Now, after months of adjusting to everything from mask wear to homework, more than 60 million people have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine.
There are still questions about what the pandemic will end and what it will look like in a post-pandemic world. But a year later, CNBC Make It has compiled a comprehensive guide, from information on current vaccines and variants to how you can stay productive while working remotely to what endemic Covid-19 can mean to you.
Here’s what we learned about Covid, and what you need to know to move forward.
How this guide works:
There is an overwhelming amount of information about Covid-19. So CNBC Make It has distilled the topics you need to know that can help you stay healthy and manage your daily pandemic life. Here you will find the most important information, plus links to other useful stories that CNBC Make It has been reporting over the past year. If you want to move to a specific section, just click on the table of contents below.
What you need to know about Covid vaccines
Three Covid vaccines are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. Experts say you should take the vaccine that is available to you.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and the Modern two-stroke vaccines use innovative messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology. Moderna’s vaccine has been shown to have an efficacy of 94.1%. Pfizer’s vaccine is 95% effective against Covid.
Both mRNA vaccines appear to be effective against many emerging variants. But Moderna began clinical trials on February 24 for a booster shot targeting the South African tribe.
Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine use a cold virus to transmit instructions to cells on the control of the coronavirus. It has been shown to be 66% effective in preventing Covid, and was 86% effective in preventing serious illness and death by Covid.
Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said the company is well positioned to handle variants.
Some other promising vaccines in the pipeline are one from Novavax and one from Oxford-AstraZeneca.
A timeline for when everyone will be vaccinated
According to the CDC, more than 30 million people in the United States were completely vaccinated on March 10.
President Joe Biden said that thanks to an “intensified process”, the US will have enough supplies to vaccinate every adult in the country by the end of May.
But it can take until the summer before “anyone and everyone” can be vaccinated, said Dr. Anthony Fauci told Pod Save America in a February 18 episode.
According to Fauci’s timeline, it will take until May or June to get the priority groups vaccinated. And then it can take a few months before all adults have vaccines in their arms, he said.
Since people are fully vaccinated, the CDC says that you can visit inside safely with other people who can be fully vaccinated, and even some who have not been vaccinated, without wearing masks or social distance, according to the guidelines on 8 March.
Use NBC News to plan your vaccination tool to determine your own status.
How to double properly
Although vaccines have returned to normal, it is not yet time to drop your mask.
As more contagious Covid variants of the coronavirus emerge that challenge the efficacy of current vaccines (such as those from South Africa), the CDC says that wearing a combination of a surgical and cloth mask, or ‘double masking’, can reduce the exposure by about 96%. .
Tying the tabs of a surgical mask, inserting and flattening the material so that it fits close to the face has also improved protection, the CDC has found, as well as a few other heels.
And you can use signs to find out if your N95 mask is genuine or counterfeit.
The supplement that dr. Fauci takes to keep his immune system healthy
It can be difficult to blow through all the so-called ‘immunity boosters’. Dr. Fauci said in September that most immune supplements do nothing, but there is one exception: vitamin D deficiency can affect your susceptibility to infection, Fauci said.
“So I would not mind recommending it, and I do it myself to take vitamin D supplements,” he told Jennifer Garner during an Instagram Live.
It is also good to take vitamin C, which has an antioxidant effect, Fauci said. But “one of the other concoctions and herbs I will not do,” he said.
Fauci has also recommended other habits that allow your immune system to function optimally, such as getting enough sleep and reducing stress.
The psychological toll of the pandemic and how to deal with it
Many people have been through the pandemic in a constant state of uncertainty. And “fear and anxiety really go hand in hand: the more things are uncertain, the more we are going to fear, and the more we fear things, the more we are anxious,” says Kevin Antshel, clinical psychologist and director of the clinical psychology program. the Syracuse University.
On top of that, people grieve over the loss of work, loved ones and the ‘normal’ life. Some, especially health care workers in the foreground, may even experience some form or symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
It is therefore important to recognize the signs that long-term stress is adversely affecting your mental health and to know what to do about it. There are strategies and ways of thinking, such as refocusing your mind or focusing on purposeful tasks, that can help you cope.
Cheap ways to make your WFH space more ergonomic
How to Resolve Burnout in Video Conferencing
As so many aspects of our lives became virtual, video calls became empty, from doctor appointments to meetings and to school. And video conferencing is here to stay, even after the pandemic.
“The way we use the space communicates a lot about our intentions, our relationships and even our values - with video chat all things get really flat, it gets thinned and often is completely missed,” digital media expert James Jarc told CNBC Make It.
But there are ways to deal with the general frustrations, from covering the thumbnail of your face with a note to taking advantage of the chat feature.
4 books that Bill Gates recommends for pandemic reading
In November, Gates shared four uplifting or educational books to read during the pandemic. Some proposals touch on pressing issues, such as ‘Ten Lessons for a World After the Pandemic’ by Fareed Zakaria. Others, such as a history book about Winston Churchill during World War II, point out how leaders act under pressure.
No matter what title you are interested in, research has shown that reading can reduce your stress levels just as effectively as other relaxation methods.
Experts say Covid will become endemic
In a February survey of more than 100 immunologists, researchers and virologists on infectious diseases, nearly 90% said that SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid, would become endemic.
When a disease becomes ‘endemic’, it means that there is a ‘constant presence and / or common occurrence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographical area’, according to the CDC. Flu is a good example.
If Covid becomes endemic, it is unlikely to be as serious or fatal during the next few years. But regular tests and annual vaccine boosters can become the norm.