The COVID-19 Vaccine Will Rejuvenate the Economy Given Time

By Ryan Lee

Sunny Hills High School

With the first set of COVID-19 vaccines distributed around early to mid December, there is finally a light at the end of the long lasting tunnel that was this pandemic. However, we should all keep in mind that even though a vaccine is now starting to be distributed, conditions are still very dangerous and we should not expect things to go back to normal anytime soon. Quarantine will not suddenly go away, and people will still be in danger. Another aspect that will not recover immediately, but given some time might, is the economy.

The COVID-19 vaccine may be a sign that the horrible situation may be coming to a close, but that kind of optimistic thinking is not realistic. This is especially true regarding the economy. People may believe that with the vaccine, all businesses will open up again, people will be back at their jobs, and the stock market will fully recover, but that is simply not true. For example, Lianne Cha, a Junior at Oxford Academy, said that, “The COVID vaccines will probably help the economy, since more people will have faith in businesses, especially if things start opening up.” While this will be true in the long term, expecting these changes in the upcoming months is a stretch to say the least.

What will realistically happen is that as the vaccine becomes more widely distributed, which may take months, non-essential business will start to open back up one by one, quarantine will slowly become less demanded, and the amount of people safe will slowly start to increase. The emphasis is on “slowly.” For example, Daniel Kong, a Junior at Sunny Hills High School, said that, “I believe that through the steady process of exporting the COVID vaccine to all parts of the world, the economy will soon be back to normal. Businesses and companies that were heavily affected by the pandemic will slowly but surely start to make its return and overall, the economy will definitely benefit from the vaccine.” Like Daniel said, as the vaccine is slowly distributed all over, we can then expect to see slow recovery to the US economy in all aspects including small businesses, jobs, and the stock market.

To wrap up this discussion of the vaccine and its economical impact, we have concluded that rather than expecting a sudden rejuvenation of the economy, we will witness slow growth parallel to the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. This means that we will see slow recovery of the economy as the vaccine is slowly distributed to all individuals.