It is the time of the year when many of us begin to look to the future.

And after a terrible year thinking about the future surely can't be worse than pondering over the preceding nine months.

Today the UK coronavirus death toll stands at more than 65,000 and around 20,000 people a day are still testing positive for the disease.

As we all know, the first of the long-awaited vaccines has arrived and is being rolled out to those most at risk.

So now, thankfully, we can begin to ask: "What will life look like after coronavirus?"

The disease is unlikely to be gone completely – smallpox is the only disease to have ever been completely eradicated and that took decades.

But its impact on all of our lives will hopefully be lessened hugely by a successful vaccine program.

The first phase of the vaccine is thought to include 90-99% of those who are at risk of dying from Covid and includes people aged 50 and above as well as frontline health and social care workers.

The second phase of the vaccine will include the rest of the population and may prioritise those working as teachers, transport workers and the military.

It is not expected to start until well into 2021, however.

Other Covid prevention measures are likely to continue into 2021 as well.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the architect of the USA's coronavirus measures, recently cautioned that mask use will likely have to continue until next winter.

He said ending the pandemic will not be like "turning a light switch on and off".

"It's going to be gradual," he added. "I think we will know when we see the level of infection in the country at a dramatically lower level than it is right now that we can start gradually tiptoeing toward normality."

The pandemic in America is undeniably worse than it is here, but the same is true on our side of the pond.

So it looks like the world after coronavirus is still some way away and when we get there it is unlikely to be the same as the world before.

The virus has sped along many things that were already happening on their own but has also brought other changes along out the blue.

A trip to the doctor's surgery is unlikely ever to fully return to how they were prior to the pandemic – instead they are likely to retain at least some of the video consultations with other other practices.

These changes were already coming but Covid has brought them to fruition faster than might otherwise been expected.

Another long running narrative is the 'death of the high street'.

One notable trend throughout the pandemic has been people's willingness to support local businesses wherever possible which has surely buoyed them against the otherwise dire financial circumstances.

Covid has, however, brought down famous names such as Debenhams and Arcadia.

These closures will contribute to the already record-breaking number of recent redundancies.

However, according to the Federation of Small Businesses some of these people are expected to start their own small business meaning smaller stores could well be springing up in the place of the former high street giants.

This same pattern of post-crisis entrepreneurship is behind some of the biggest companies on the planet.

Disney was started just before the great depression but only really took off in its aftermath. Microsoft was born in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. AirBnB was founded after the 2008 financial crash catering for those who could no longer afford hotel prices.

While none of this will make up for the people we have lost during the pandemic and life after coronavirus may still be further away than we wish it was – there is light at the end of the tunnel.