There’s lots of excitement with the rollout of coronavirus vaccines overseas, and it looks like we are not far behind.
It raises lots of questions, most centered around how soon our lives can return to a pre-pandemic sense of normalcy.
Dr. Kagya Amoako, associate professor of biomedical engineering at the University of New Haven, gave NBC Connecticut Chief Investigator Len Besthoff his assessment.
See a longer version of the interview below.
Len Besthoff: “What is life going to look like in each stage of this vaccine rollout were about to experience?”
Dr. Amoako: “Even if you get the vaccine, and the vaccine is being rolled out according to the plan, for those who do get it initially, it does not mean they quickly jump back into life as we knew it. They still have to wear your mask and make sure that they follow the CDC guidelines. So, if a group of people have been vaccinated and you haven’t, still you have to, those that haven’t been vaccinated have to follow the CDC guidelines wear a mask, social distancing, personal hygiene, and what have you. It’s going to take some time.”
Len Besthoff: “How many people are going to need to be vaccinated to achieve that herd immunity we all hear about?”
Dr. Amoako: "If we are able to even vaccinate 50, to maybe 60% of the population, rapidly, we can get to the point where the number of new cases do go down.
Len Besthoff: “How many months do you think it might be 'til we can literally throw off those masks?”
Dr. Amoako: “Public health estimates have projected probably somewhere in May next year is where they see a large portion of this population being vaccinated. It appears that that is when, May June July, is when we may return back to life the way it was pre-Covid days.”
