Leading epidemiologists of China and the US, Zhong Nanshan and Anthony Fauci exchanged views on future life prediction, economic recovery and vaccination, stressing the need for global action to fight against the global pandemic, in an online meeting hosted by the University of Edinburgh on March 2.

What will life be like in 2022?

Both experts expressed optimism for life a year from now.

"I know we're not going to get the world vaccinated in one year, but but it is under extraordinarily good control, so that there can be some steps toward normality," Fauci said.

Zhong believed that everything will get much better in one year. The premise for us to return to a normal social life is that experts around the world work together to develop more effective drugs, antibodies and vaccines, he added.

How can we balance epidemic prevention and economic development?

The two experts agreed that the restart of economy should not go too fast, to avoid a backlash of the epidemic.

"Last year, two months after the epidemic was basically under control, we reopened our economy and resumed school and college classes," said Zhong.

According to Fauci, the balance between economic development and epidemic prevention requires multiple disciplines to join forces, and global cooperation to deal with the mutations of the COVID-19 virus.

Is herd immunity possible?

Zhong believed that herd immunity cannot be achieved by unscientific and inhumane ways of natural immunity. He also predicted that it will take at least 2-3 years to achieve herd immunity worldwide with the development of vaccines.

As of now, China has granted three vaccines for conditional marketing, and one for emergency use.

Global cooperation is crucial for epidemic control

For Zhong, COVID-19 is an enemy of all mankind, and it is impossible to get it under full control if it is still spreading in some individual countries.

"We have been successful in the past by global cooperation with smallpox, polio and measles. There is no reason in the world why we can't do the same thing with COVID-19 by a combination of cooperative public health measures and the application of science to get interventions in the form of vaccines and therapies as well as other types of interventions," Fauci said.