2021 will be remembered as the year of “the new normal,” as we adapted to live with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, not instituting lockdowns, exercising precautions with masks and vaccines, meeting in person, working hybrid in the office and remotely, limiting traveling abroad with and without quarantine, going out to restaurants and sports events, etc. The introduction of the vaccine relieved the fear of the threat to our existence, but how to continue with life when the pandemic continues to linger remains unclear. The new normal is being formatted on a daily basis, and adapting to it is challenging. The pessimistic view is that life will never again be like before, that the pandemic will leave only a negative impact, while the optimist sees the silver lining of the pandemic, that the challenges will bring opportunities for developing novel solutions and a good new normal will arise. There is no doubt that the vaccine has reduced the infection rate and that novel therapeutics such as monoclonal antibodies and the superb care given by healthcare providers have reduced the mortality and hospitalization rates and continue to minimize the burden of the pandemic on patients and society. The new normal will continue to evolve and will become reality as the pandemic most likely will be here for a few more years until, if feasible, the entire world will get vaccinated or the virus miraculously disappears. Human power has always been able to overcome challenging diseases, as it did it in the past with malaria and polio, and thus, there is no reason why it should be different with COVID-19.