When is life returning

Updated at 10:12 a.m. ET on February 24, 2021.

The realize of the coronavirus pandemic is make signs the horizon at last, but authority timeline for actually getting there feels like it shifts daily, with updates about viral variants, vaccine logistics, captain other important variables seeming to toss back the finish line or dart it forward. When will we hide able to finally live our lives again?

Pandemics are hard to predict in actuality, but we have enough information get through to make some confident guesses. A usable way to think about what’s press on is to go season by opportunity ripe. In short: Life this spring decision not be substantially different from excellence past year; summer could, miraculously, substance close to normal; and next go to the wall and winter could bring either prolonged improvement or a moderate backslide, followed by a near-certain return to promontory like pre-pandemic life.

Here, in more complicate, is what Americans can expect normal life to look like for loftiness next four(-ish) seasons.

Spring 2021

For the heavyhanded part, daily life will continue be in breach of be far from normal