Photo via Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press


California governor Gavin Newsom has stated that even if the state lifts its shelter-in-place order, Californians should not expect to return to “normal” life until there is a herd immunity and an available vaccine for coronavirus. Newsom specified that mass gatherings specifically were “not in the cards.”

“The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” Newsom said (via Mercury News). “So large-scale events that bring in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers altogether across every conceivable difference, health and otherwise, is not in the cards based upon our current guidelines and current expectations.”

“Things can change radically and we could of course have therapeutics at scale, the kind of community testing at scale, serology tests at scale and a capacity to get vaccines earlier than we anticipated that can change that dynamic, so I want to caution my own words in that context,” Newsom continued. “When you suggest June, July, August, (mass gatherings) are unlikely,” Newsom said.

According to Mercury News, “Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has indicated that it will take between 12 and 18 months to develop a coronavirus vaccine.”

For consolidated updates on postponements and cancellations due to COVID-19, visit Relix.com/coronavirus.