COVID-19 will be with us a long time

Maybe someday COVID-19 will be like the flu, which kills an average of 36,000 Americans a year, rather than the coronavirus which has killed more than 700,000 people in the country over past 18 months.

Maybe vaccines will become even more effective, health officials will approve the shots for children of all ages, researchers will develop new medicines to heal the sick and new treatments to ease the suffering.

Although science can do a lot to block the virus and lessen its death sentence, no pill or shot or wishful thinking can make it go away completely. Herd immunity, though helpful to reduc...