It has been a year since the World Health Organization officially declared Covid a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
In that time, there have been more than 29 million cases of Covid in the U.S. and 527,720 people have died. Now, after months of adjusting to everything from wearing masks to working from home, more than 60 million people have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine.
There are still questions about how the pandemic will end and what life is like in a post-pandemic world. But a year later, CNBC Make It has put together a comprehensive guide, from information on current vaccines and variants, to how to stay productive while working remotely to what the endemic Covid-19 could mean to you.
This is what we have learned about Covid and what we need to know to move forward.
How this guide works:
There is an overwhelming amount of information about Covid-19. So CNBC Make It distilled the essentials that can help you stay healthy and control your daily pandemic life. Here’s the most important information, as well as links to other helpful stories CNBC Make It has reported over the past year. If you want to jump to a specific section, click on the table of contents below.
What you need to know about Covid vaccines
The Food and Drug Administration currently authorizes three Covid vaccines for emergency use. Experts say you should get the vaccine you have available.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines twice use innovative messenger RNA or mRNA technology. The Moderna vaccine has been shown to be 94.1% effective. The Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective against Covid.
Both mRNA vaccines appear to be effective against many emerging variants. But on February 24, Moderna began clinical trials for a reinforcement shot aimed at the South African strain.
Use the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine a common cold virus to instruct cells on how to fight the coronavirus. It demonstrated 66% overall effectiveness in preventing Covid and was 86% effective in preventing serious illness and death from Covid.
Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said the company is well positioned to handle variants.
Some other promising vaccines underway are one from Novavax and one from Oxford-AstraZeneca.
A chronology of when everyone will be vaccinated
As of March 10, more than 30 million people in the U.S. had been completely vaccinated, according to the CDC.
President Joe Biden said that thanks to an “intensified process,” the United States will have enough supply to vaccinate all the country’s adults by the end of May.
But it could take the summer for “everyone and everyone” to get vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci in “Pod Save America” in an episode released on February 18th.
It will take until May or June for priority groups to be vaccinated, according to Fauci’s timeline. And then, it could take several months for all adults to have vaccines on their arms, he said.
Because people are completely vaccinated, the CDC says you can safely visit other people who are completely vaccinated and even some people who are not vaccinated inside without wearing masks or socializing, according to the guide published on March 8.
To check your own eligibility status, use the NBC News vaccination plan.
How to mask properly
Although vaccines have returned to normal as a reality, it is not yet time to leave the mask.
As Covid variants of more contagious coronaviruses appear that challenge the effectiveness of current vaccines (such as the one in South Africa), the CDC claims to wear a combination of a surgical mask and cloth, also called a “double mask.” , can reduce exposure by about 96%.
Writing down the ear loops of a surgical mask, inserting and flattening the material to fit the face, also improved protection, found the CDC, as well as some other pirates.
And you can use telltale signs to find out if the N95 mask is real or fake.
The supplement that Dr. Take Fauci to help keep your immune system healthy
It can be difficult to go through all the so-called “immunity boosters”. Fauci said in September that most immunity supplements do nothing, but there is one exception: vitamin D deficiency can affect your susceptibility to infection, Fauci said.
“So I wouldn’t mind recommending it, and I do it myself by taking vitamin D supplements,” she told Jennifer Garner during an Instagram Live.
It’s also okay to take vitamin C, which has an antioxidant effect, Fauci said. But “I wouldn’t make any of the other preparations and herbs,” he said.
Fauci has also recommended other habits that keep the immune system functioning optimally, such as getting enough sleep and reducing stress.
The psychological toll of the pandemic and how to deal with it
Many people have experienced the pandemic in a state of constant uncertainty. And “fear and anxiety work hand in hand: the more uncertain things are, the more we fear and the more we fear things, the more anxious we are,” says Kevin Antshel, clinical psychologist and director of the University of Clinical Psychology program. Syracuse.
In addition, people are grieving the loss of jobs, loved ones and “normal” life. Some, especially front-line health workers, may even experience some form or symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Therefore, it is important to recognize the signs that long-term stress is negatively affecting your mental health and to know what to do about it. There are strategies and mindsets, such as reformulating your thoughts or focusing on goal-oriented tasks, that can help you cope.
Economical ways to make your WFH space more ergonomic
How to Fix Video Conferencing Exhaustion
Because so many aspects of our lives have become virtual, from doctor appointments to meetings and school, video calls have run out. And video conferencing is here to stay, even post-pandemic.
“The way we engage in space communicates many things about our intentions, our relationships, and even our values: with video chat, all of this is clarified, diluted, and often completely lost. “Digital media expert James Jarc tells CNBC Make It.
But there are ways to deal with the usual frustrations, from covering your face miniature with an adhesive note to taking advantage of the chat feature.
4 books that Bill Gates recommends to read pandemic
In November, Gates shared four educational or uplifting books to read during the pandemic. Some of the suggestions touch on pressing issues, such as “Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World” by Fareed Zakaria. Others, such as a history book about Winston Churchill during World War II, point to how leaders act under pressure.
Whatever title you’re 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, infectious disease researchers and virologists, nearly 90% said SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid, will become endemic.
When a disease becomes “endemic,” it means that there is a “constant presence and / or prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population in a geographic area,” according to the CDC. The flu is a good example.
Over the next few years, if Covid becomes endemic, it probably won’t be as serious or deadly. But regular testing and annual vaccine promoters could become the norm.