In Search of a Silver Bullet

By Berenice Lai, CMP, DES | Head of Global Events, SurveyMonkey

The event industry was destined to be rewritten on March 11, 2020, when the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The past 12 months have been a crash course on new norms, most notably with social distancing and handwashing drilled into our psyche. This same concept of new norms is the fate of the event industry as we are now forced to create a personal ambience within a remote setting. Living in a pandemic feels like we are in an indefinite race where the finish line never comes into focus.

Through technology and science, we have made tremendous progress in testing, data gathering and vaccine development. At the time of writing, 413 million doses have been administered across 132 countries. With the news of vaccine rollout, there is a sense of relief that we have finished the first of many marathons. We are ready to move into the next phase of our new lives, which requires adaptation and change, not just a return to a pre-COVID normal. This is especially true for our industry due to the seismic changes the pandemic has imposed on all of us. Historically our role has been to bring people together. We will continue to do this, and we need to get creative and rewrite the methods to do so whether the format is in-person or hybrid.

Global Vaccine Availability

Out of nearly 200 vaccines in various development stages across the globe, there are five in Phase 4 clinical trials currently being administered. More information about the latest vaccines can be found in The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI). Vaccine development during a pandemic is akin to riding a bike to catch a jet plane!

Herd immunity is a term tossed around in the news a lot lately. What this means to us directly is that a certain percentage of the global population needs to be immunised against the virus. Likely, over 70% to 85% of the global population must be vaccinated. As the data below indicates, some countries are faring better than others. With the current vaccination rate, it will take upwards of 24 months to reach this goal globally. That is why equal access to vaccines is so vital for a pandemic. COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and aims to distribute 2 billion doses by the end of 2021. Our World in Data tracks this data.

Cumulative COVID-19 vaccination and leading countries within each continent is as follows:

Africa 0.48* (Morocco 4.1% fully vaccinated)

Antarctica (NA)

Asia: 2.7* (Israel 46% Fully vaccinated)

Australia and Oceania: NA (Australia 0.6 vaccinated)

Europe 11.38* (UK 2.3% Fully vaccinated^)

North America 18.58* (U.S.A 11% Fully vaccinated)

South America 4.98* (Chile 9.5% Fully vaccinated)

Progress and Variants

There is no doubt the science community has made tremendous progress in such a short time. However, vaccines are not the silver bullet many expected them to be. The non-scientists among us were mostly unaware that COVID variants would present themselves; these are mutations of the original disease that tend to spread more quickly. As of today there are three variants. Looking to Israel as an example, the high vaccination rate has not allowed them to avoid a surge in COVID cases due to the British variant arriving in the country.

Until we are able to get ahead of the virus mutations, which may take years, our new normal for in-person events have undoubtedly changed. These evolving changes currently include masks, physical distance, and sanitation of hands and meeting areas. The event industry would do well to drop expectations of returning to the standards used before, and instead, look at new ways to plan for continued vigilance for the next few years as the world continues to work on controlling this virus in a permanent, sustainable way.

*Doses administered per 100 people. This is counted as a single dose, and may not equal the total number of people vaccinated, depending on the specific dose regime (e.g. people receive multiple doses).

^The UK transitioned to a single-shot plan to cover as many people as possible as quickly as possible. While only 2.3% of the population has received second shots, 35% of the population has received one dose.

About Berenice

Berenice Lai, CMP, DES, oversees Global Events at SurveyMonkey. A CMP since 2011, she is currently a member of the EIC Knowledge Committee. Although Berenice’s area of focus was Graphic Design in college, she finds her experience in the design industry incredibly valuable for event management. She spent the first nine years of her event planning career in the financial services industry before joining the tech world.  Berenice is passionate about attendee experience and data, especially when she can combine the two to create better outcomes.