COVID predictions for 2022

leyahealth

There isn't a leadership in the world that can plan beyond a couple of weeks.

They've tried to cheat and take short cuts, throwing the dice everytime, hoping for divine intervention. And failing everytime.

Airports never closing, during a global pandemic? Imbeciles. And that's just one thing.

Prediction:

They're going to keep repeating the same 2 or 3 weeks reactions until they literally run out of money then, and only then, will they start sealing off countries.

"No, that can't happen because!" they'll bluster and spit, but that's what's going to happen, take it to the bank.

So how long will the money last? June, September? We'll see.

Downlinz

2020 was the year of panic, 2021 was the year of hope and 2022 will be the year of despair.

Variants continue to emerge more resistant to the vaccine as confidence in the vaccination program erodes. The majority of people on the planet will be infected by some form of Covid through 2022, the symptoms will be milder than in previous years but the scale of infection will be of such grave enormity that hospitals struggle to cope.

Political tension will be rife as some countries chose further severe lockdowns and others to avoid restrictions entirely as containing the virus becomes increasingly futile. Violence will erupt onto the streets in many countries, some governments may be overthrown in the event of a police brutality response.

Numbers will peak mid January but the crisis (and major restrictions) will be over by March. Covid will have become endemic and no longer a significant threat to life. It will be a long and blissful summer, we all begin to recuperate and reflect on the years that brought us all closer to the brink. Rebuilding begins, hopefully a little wiser and more rounded societally and individually.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347205#Comment_118347205

Only problem with sealing off the country is it's completely Unworkable.

nullzero

Schools to reopen towards the end of March with vaccine certs a mandatory requirement for school attendance.

That means that we'll be in lockdown after next week for the guts of three months and that mandatory vaccination of school children will be introduced in all but name. This will cause a backlash like we haven't seen before in this pandemic.

2022 will be the most polarized year of covid so far in terms of what people are willing to accept from their leaders.

A cynical part of me wouldn't be surprised to see covid certs getting a snappy new title like "Smart Certs" or something like that (the implication being that not having one makes you not smart).

In short its going to get very ugly indeed next year.

spaceHopper

Parents won't get their under 12's vaccinate in any real numbers. The Government have done too many u-turns and made too many false statements for parents to accept their word the vaccinate is safe for young kids. Covid is a mild illness for otherwise healthy kids. And it would be illegal to force kids to miss school if they are a close contact and un-vaccinated. 

Primary schools will be closed in January possibly till March with a vaccinate your kids to protect their education... which is horse sh1t by the way, it wasn't they would vaccinate for chickenpox routenlly.

Vaccine crets will be used for most of 2021 but if they are applied to kids then there will be high court challenge, fearing that they will ruled illegal the government will u-turn on it.

Omicron could be a good thing possibly by the end of March we could go from a pandemic to endemic and end most restrictions by mid summer, except for masks, certs and WFH. I wouldn't go booking a trip to France yet. 

Work form home until September mask for all of 2022 is shops....

Teaches strike over how bad the gov had dealt with schools and Norma will resign before Easter.

FF and FG will fall out with FF pulling the plug and we will see a SF / FF + others or SF + others and FF not opposing them government. Leo will get pushed aside and Simon H will take over. 

NeedMoreGears

I'm gonna for optimistic, given this is pretty much impossible to forecast.

Omnicron will have come and gone in two or thee months, after which pretty much everyone is vaccinated/immune through infection. Things could be rough in the interim - frankly I can't say. Perhaps we'll see some positive european data in the next week or two, which will facilitate more social contact.

Pretty much fully back to normal after Omnicron. Perhaps some exceptional circumstances might require minor protocols (say wearing a mask when meeting very vulnerable people).

After that another booster will be offered out of concern that another variant of concern emerges (no clue as to whether this will happen). Anti-viral pills should help.

Bikerguy

New virus appears...more lethal.... Riots....shops closed....country out of money....new order world....

Thats what my head is saying....

Covid will mutate to low danger variant and will be with us forever..we will be living without masks and happy again giving handshakes and kisses....

Thats what my hearth is saying

If i would said that 2 years a go people will say i am crazy.... Now nobody will laugh...

Tangentially related - my prediction is that the restrictions will become so normalised, and mask-wearing so prevalent (and sadly accepted) , that fines will be mooted for 2023 for people seen 'putting on/taking off masks behind the wheel while driving'.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118362134#Comment_118362134

Thats what my hearth is saying

If i would said that 2 years a go people will say i am crazy

Well in fairness it is a bit unusual to hear your fireplace speaking to you...

My prediction is that the disruptions to our normal life will intensify rapidly and in ways that makes less and less sense. Not only is there no end in sight but we have this permanent state of affairs which is getting more repressive with the expansion of covid passes, restrictions and vaccine mandates but also in terms of our ability to question these decrees and policies.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118364441#Comment_118364441

Well put Bren. Summed up very sweetly and succintly. The 'virus' , it would seem, would appear to be low down in the things to be concerned about 'going forward' ☹️ The sense of overhanging dread as regards all these (and the ones yet to come) intrusions into our liberties is most worrisome indeed. The virus was the 'Frontal Assault' , and the reaction/s to it, the 'Envelopment' .. Life as we know it is disintegrating into complete and unrelenting authoritarianism. Boiled frogs to be sure... Or maybe we'll never be forced to have our 'papers' with us at all times, and in five years, perhaps, we can laugh at, eg, the prospect of implanted rfid chips.. 😤 Doubt it though..

I predict many excuses valid reasons within the small print from politicians/the great and good, as to why their gatherings/behaviours (while apearing to be in contravention of what's allowed) are/were acceptable; all the while for the rest of us, well we know all the rules will apply.. At least until, and as long as they feel mildly obliged to explain themselves. Dark days ahead.

It's good to rant.

Multipass

Omicron will be confirmed to be a mild cold for the vast majority. The players will need to come up with a reason to keep the covid pass and vaccine revenue going, so I expect some bad and scary news at some point in the Spring - either a new variant, or some newly discovered risk from current ones.

rovers_runner

No more restrictions post March, a proper heave in Govt at that stage and a GE where FF are decimated.

Masks to stubbornly carry on in certain sections of society due to stockholm syndrome.

Attempts to boost under 40's and children fall below 60% compliance, eventually meaning vaccine passports are no longer enforceable. Europe to follow suit after mass public demonstration.

323

Legislation passed recently to keep the "temporary" power to impose restrictions in place until middle of next year. If history is anything to go by middle of the night "temporary" legislation has generally tended to remain in place.

The "Omicron" / "Moronic" variant was known from day one to be no more than a cold. As ~25% of all common colds have always been human corona virus, corona will always be with us. But the Gold standard/fraudulent Drosten RT-PCR test with nearly a hundred percent FALSE positive rate can be used at will to turn the common cold into a casedemic and shut down society. So see more and more senseless lockdowns and restrictions on the way.

Booster #4 and #5 for those who want to avail of them to will be required to maintain "vaccinated " status, which will require an implanted chip (woof woof). The restaurants/pubs many claim to have got jabbed to avail of will be gone, bankrupted with doors closed to all, the jabbed, the unjabbed, even Tony Holohan's virus that "loves alcohol".

Imagine still believing this is about stopping a virus!!

- Continued restrictions through 2022. "Periods of freedom" in between, as Varadker put it recently

- New "variants of concern" 😄

- Expansion of Covid Pass to other areas of life, especially if booster uptake wanes

- Discussion/proposals re: expanding the Covid Pass into something more all-encompassing (digital ID, digital banking etc)

- More kite-flying and discussion around implanting this Covid Pass under one's skin as per recent RTE article (even though the pass was supposed to be a temporary measure 😄)

- Ramping up of anti-lockdown/Covid Pass protests across Europe

- Many more small-medium businesses to fold after being deemed untenable / government supports pulled

- Another crisis.. possibly financial collapse, cyber attack, or major supply chain issues / food shortages in Europe

cheezums

Omicron will burn out around mid to late January and hospitalizations and ICU numbers will reduce dramatically. All restrictions to end sometime in February and that's the end of Covid.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118360158#Comment_118360158

I think you (and everyone else) may need to let go of this "back to normal" idea. That ship has sailed. Klaus Schwab and the WEF have said the notion is "fiction". Even the politicians here like Varadker and Harris are saying it's not going to happen.

The breaking point for the HSE is not hospitalisations but staff numbers. Hospital I work in had 10% of staff out on covid related isolation/sick leave. Need more hospital staff really.

Deeper Blue

Bruce Willis to star as Tony Holohan in "Hold Firm 2: Hold Firmer"

franciscanpunk

I imagine the same rinse and repeat lockdown, variant,booster, etc for the last 2 years.

At the stage now where i hope the whole system just falls apart, protests etc be a welcome change of pace from the our usual misery

Cluedo Monopoly

I think we will be completely out of this by April/May. I am pretty confident about that.

Covid will just become another disease.- if you want a vaccine every 3-6 months, its available - just like the flu vaccine. Knock yourself out.

No more restrictions.

And the government will use any available money to increase hospital/ICU and A&E capacity - long overdue.

Richard Hillman

Covid Passes to remain throughout the year. Masks throughout the year. Light easing of restrictions in February. NPHET to remain throughout the year. The exact same restrictions next December.

It will be much different in Europe. Mass riots over the passport, police will stop turning up for work. A cocktail of events will turn Europe upside down. War in Ukraine. Vlad turning the gas pipes turned off/or Ukrainians sabotage them. Refugee crisis. Bosnia will kick off. More Refugees. Mass inflation. Energy crisis. French presidential election which turns into a Covid pass referendum. Boom. It's going to be wild.

Dr. Bre

It would be nice if they opened up in the summer considering restrictions from October to March every year .

eddie73

Currently isolating due to covid infection.

Basing the future on the current strain of covid, I would say that this is the last hurrah of the virus. I am slightly congested, thats all. We should allow this thing to sweep the board and then be given a choice re boosters, as I honestly dont believe that they are needed for younger people having experienced what omricon's effects are.

Perseverance The Second

COVID cases will peak in late January as Omicron spreads like wildfire when schools reopen.

A new variant will emerge around April which will come out of a country with low vaccination levels.

The Irish government will be pressured to donate a huge number of vaccines to provide doses to the developing world.

All restrictions will still be lifted by May.

A COVID booster campaign will start to be implemented in time for shots to start in October-November period.

Del Griffith

Omicron turns out to be a big nothing, then finally people start to cop on that this is now just another bad virus, and similar to the flu if you are very unlucky or vulnerable and get a bad dose, it can be rough but for most it's just another short term ailment that comes and goes.

After 6 months, mid to late summer, most governments recognise this too and restrictions are relaxed and removed. Cowardly countries that live by "an abundance of caution" such as Ireland drag it out til early next year but as soon as an election is looming everything is finally fully restored.

Anti viral medicines those that do need treatment are well looked after, and from mid 2023 the vaccine pass is retired.

Irish Stones

In my opinion, 2022 will be just like 2021, with two or three more waves of infections, with two or three more variants, two boosters along the year required to renew the cert, same restrictions as now, on and off according to the moment.

Another Christmas of restrictions and panic.

Then, 2023, just like 2022. And so on!

Van.Bosch

I think the sheer number of cases we will have in Jan might change the outlook. We will likely hit 20,000 a day and it will only be that low due to testing limitations. That many people isolating is going to cause issues with health services, retail etc.

That happening globally might cause isolation periods to be reduced which means more cases in a way. I just can’t see how the current approach is sustainable.

Zebra3

Varadkar was saying a couple of weeks ago that we have seen how Covid is barely an issue during the summer and we need to remove pretty much all restrictions during the summer (and I assume from some part of spring) like Denmark and Sweden.

And this was before the new scarient was looking like end game. FFFG will want this well out of the way before the next GE and the money isn’t there like 12 months ago to continue with locking down hard.

Life to be back to pretty much normal by April, with later in the year masks becoming optional.

Those whinging about the removal of restrictions will be able to console themselves by hugging Saint Tony’s recently released book.