If we’re lucky in the Opinion section, we work through our beliefs completely and support them with great arguments. But sometimes, we don’t need a deeper reason to hold our convictions. Rapid Fire is for those tweet-length takes that can be explained in just a sentence or two. No more justification needed.
Today we asked our writers: How much longer will the COVID-19 pandemic last? Here’s what they said:
Harrison Raskin, Opinion Section Editor: We are at least halfway done.
Jacob Ningen, Contributor: As a pandemic, Harrison is probably right. I mean the 1919 H1N1 only lasted to 1920. Thus we are probably half way through the pandemic. COVID-19, however, will be with us forever.
Connor Rickermann, Staff Artist: Either one or two more years, and it largely depends on how bad the variants end up. If one of the strains becomes resistant to the AstraZeneca vaccine, for example, it might take a while for the pharmaceutical companies to catch up. I think we see a return to relative normalcy next spring.
Nell Srinath, Contributor: At earliest, until 2022, or when the majority of Global South citizens have access to a vaccine — until then there is still a responsibility to ensure equitable distribution of medical supplies. The economic fallout, however, will be apparent indefinitely.
Anika Veeraraghav, Associate Opinion Editor: Remember that episode of “The Office” when Dwight talks about the apocalypse and Jim asks him about when that’ll happen (could be 3 months, 4 months, 1 year, 494 months, etc.)? That’s what this pandemic feels like — all very realistic timelines.
Maddie Papcun, Contributor: This just reminds me of the scene from “iCarly” where Spencer asks the elevator repairman how long it’ll take for the elevator to be fixed, and only gets back, “Could be three, or four. Yeah maybe five. Look, buddy, I’m just a dancer.” Like the elevator repairman, I don’t know what’s going on. I’m just here.
