Light at the end of the tunnel?
As the vaccination programmes progress and increase immunity, hopes of an end to the restrictions and a return to normality are also growing. But the pandemic has opened up wounds that will continue to hurt even after infection rates have been brought under control in our part of the world, Europe's press notes.
A rude awakening in the new normality
Jornal de Notícias warns that the end of the protective measures doesn't mean the end of the struggle:
“Signs of optimism are multiplying. September is supposed to mark the beginning of a new era. A time of sanitary and soon social normality. This horizon of hope is fundamental for us to escape the depression and fears that sprouted with the spread of Covid-19. ... But September could also be the beginning of an economic and social disaster. By that time, many industries will have lost their resilience, and for workers, having tamed the pandemic through intensive vaccination will be little consolation.”
A solid base needed for civic participation
If the state can ensure that people's basic needs are met, weakened civil society will reawaken, Oko.press believes:
“Many Polish women and men will focus on rebuilding their physical and mental health and improving their household budgets after the pandemic. ... Therefore, stabilising the health system and the labour market should be treated as a priority, since they are the foundations for building an engaged civil society.”
Deadly inequality
In view of the rising Covid death toll in other parts of the world, the taz points out that the crisis is only just beginning in many places:
“Even at the start of the pandemic it was apparent how murderous global inequality is: some countries were able to protect their citizens quickly and effectively, others were not. The approaching end is even more unequal: some privileged countries will soon be disease-free, while many others never will. ... What kind of world will this be, where the top ten percent of humanity are vaccinated and happy while the rest are lucky to survive the year in one piece?”