As of writing, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 respiratory virus has now reached 169, 611, 569 cases, 3, 524, 379 deaths, with 151, 323, 634 recoveries worldwide, and people keep asking when will the pandemic be over.

As we all know, it was on the 11th of March 2020 when the World Health Organization, which was closely monitoring the respiratory virus that was identified in Wuhan City, China, declared it as an outbreak at a pandemic level because of the millions of people who were infected. As the world watched, anxiety began to build upon everyone, including governments and health care workers, because of the alarming infection rate.

One of the significant decisions that the governments worldwide made is to issue travel bans from countries with recorded coronavirus cases to stop it from entering the country. But lo and behold, despite strict health protocols such as handwashing, social distancing, mask-wearing, and taking of temperatures, the virus still proliferated even before authorities and health workers can contain it.

Some countries opted for people who travel to mandatorily undergo fit to fly COVID test and present their fit to fly certificates to pass through from one country to another. PCR test or polymerase chain reaction tests are also conducted for people who exhibit the symptoms of COVID-19 for an affirmative result. Once a person’s test result appears positive, they are immediately brought to a quarantine facility to receive medical treatment to survive the deadly virus.

By the end of December 2020, big pharmaceutical companies have had the chance to publicly announce that vaccines are already available and were given by the WHO an authority for emergency use and to get as many people vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Vaccines that were first to be approved for use are Pfizer/ BioNTech, AstraZeneca/ Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, and Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.

Check out this Harley Medic International Infographic to learn more.