Guide to vaccinations, productivity, tips

It has been a year since the World Health Organization officially declared Covid a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

During that time, there have been more than 29 million cases of Covid in the US and 527,720 people have died. Now, after months of adjusting to everything from wearing a mask 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 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 for you.

Here’s what we learned about Covid and what you need to know to move on.

Three Covid vaccines are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. Experts say you should take the vaccine available to you.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna dual vaccines use innovative messenger RNA or mRNA technology. Moderna’s vaccine has shown 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 Feb. 24 for a booster shot targeting the South African strain.

The single-use vaccine from Johnson & Johnson a cold virus to instruct cells on how to fight the coronavirus. It showed a total of 66% effectiveness in preventing Covid, and was 86% effective in preventing severe illness and death from Covid.

Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said the company is well positioned to tackle variants.

Some other promising vaccines in the pipeline include one from Novavax and one from Oxford-AstraZeneca.

More than 30 million people in the US have been fully vaccinated since March 10, according to the CDC.

President Joe Biden said that thanks to an “accelerated trial” the US will have enough supplies to vaccinate every adult in the country by the end of May.

But it could be the summer before “everyone and everyone” is actually vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci told “Pod Save America” ​​in an episode released Feb. 18.

According to Fauci’s timeline, it will take until May or June for the priority groups to be vaccinated. And then it could take several months for all adults to have vaccines in their arms, he said.

Because humans are fully vaccinated, the CDC says you can safely visit other fully vaccinated people and even some unvaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or social distances, according to guidelines released March 8.

Use NBC News’ schedule your vaccination tool to check your own fitness status.

Although vaccines have returned to normal feel more like a reality, it’s not time to drop your mask yet.

As more infectious coronavirus-Covid variants emerge questioning the efficacy of current vaccines (such as those from South Africa), the CDC says wearing a combination surgical mask and cloth mask, also known as ‘double masking’ can reduce exposure by about 96%. .

Tying the ear loops of a surgical mask, then tucking in and flattening the material so that it fits close to the face, also improved protection, the CDC discovered, as well as some other hacks.

And you can use telltale signs to find out if your N95 mask is real or counterfeit.

It can be difficult to wade through all of the so-called “immunity boosters.” Dr. 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’m doing it myself by taking vitamin D supplements,” he 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 do any other concoctions and herbs,” he said.

Fauci has also recommended other habits that can keep your immune system functioning optimally, such as getting enough sleep and reducing stress.

Many people have lived through the pandemic in a constant state of uncertainty. And “fear and anxiety really go hand in hand: the more things are insecure, the more we will be afraid, and the more we fear things, the more we worry,” said Kevin Antshel, clinical psychologist and director. of the clinical psychology program at the University of Syracuse.

In addition, people mourn the loss of jobs, loved ones and ‘normal’ life. Some, especially primary care health professionals, may even experience some form or symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

So it’s important to recognize the signs that prolonged stress is negatively affecting your mental health and what to do about it. There are strategies and thinking, such as rephrasing your thoughts or focusing on goal-oriented tasks, that can help you cope.

Because so many aspects of our lives have become virtual, from doctor’s appointments to meetings and school, video calls have become exhausting. And video conferencing is permanent, even after a pandemic.

“The way we engage with space communicates a lot about our intentions, our relationships and even our values ​​- video chat really flattens all of those things, it gets watered down, and often it’s completely missed,” digital media expert James Jarc tells CNBC Make It.

But there are ways to deal with the common frustrations, from covering the thumbnail of your face with a sticky note to taking advantage of the chat feature.

In November, Gates shared four uplifting or educational books to read during the pandemic. Some suggestions pertain to pressing issues, such as “Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World” by Fareed Zakaria. Others, such as a history book on Winston Churchill during World War II, point to how leaders act under pressure.

Whatever title piques your interest, research has shown that reading can reduce your stress levels just as effectively as other relaxation methods.

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 common prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area,” the CDC said. Influenza is a good example.

If Covid becomes endemic in the next few years, it probably won’t be as serious or deadly. But regular testing and annual vaccine boosters can become the norm.