When the coronavirus pandemic first started last year, we found ourselves in a state of shock. Our lives were literally being turned upside down as businesses closed, schools closed and everyone started ordering grocery delivery.

At first, we thought these changes would be very short term. We were told 2 weeks, and we were okay with that. As time went on and we went from not owning a face mask to coordinating them with our outfits, we realized that things weren’t going to be normal anytime soon.

Now that there are multiple COVID-19 vaccines available and even Disneyland is finally reopening, it seems that things are getting closer to normal. Finally. Yet, it’s a new normal where social distancing and face masks are still common practice.

When will things be normal normal? Like, when will things be the way they were before the pandemic started?

Honestly, things will probably never be 100% normal. We have all lived through a crisis, and it has definitely impacted us all. We will probably never be completely the same, but the world will once again look the same one day. We’ll hug our friends, go out to dinner without wearing face masks and throw birthday parties for our kids. But, when?

Bill Gates thinks that the world will be normal once again by the end of 2022. He told TVN24, “By the end of 2022 we should be basically completely back to normal.”

His wife, Melinda Gates, seems to agree. She believes it will be “sometime in 2022.”

Okay. Hold on. Don’t panic. That doesn’t mean we have over a year and a half left of lockdowns. Bill and Melinda Gates both stated the end of 2022 because they were taking into consideration when vaccines will be available in all countries including developing countries.

Even though we would like the world to be normal, like, yesterday, it is helpful to have some sort of tentative end date to this pandemic, even one more than a year away.

Melinda Gates told CNBC, “And boy, I think we’re all looking forward to that. There are a lot of people that are suffering, not just in the US but everywhere.”

We are definitely looking forward to normal and the end of the pandemic.

What are you most looking forward to when the pandemic is finally over? Do you think there are certain things that will forever be changed by the pandemic? Does it surprise you that Bill and Melinda Gates don’t think the world will be normal again until sometime in late 2022?