Man, this makes me glad I haven't yet tried to write contemporary or near-future fiction! I think Covid-19 is a highly unusual, pivotal thing that will be remembered for peoples' entire lives. Even if we get a vaccine by the end of 2021 and everyone takes it, and it's highly effective, it will have aftereffects, and I wouldn't bet on all these things being true. It could very much be a factor in our lives for years to come. The first Sars outbreak had long-term effects in the countries hit hardest by it, such as Masks being something you would see people wearing in public fairly often and even becoming fashion statements worn by K-Pop fans.
We're living through something that will certainly be in the history books. The outcome of our upcoming election in the US will also very possibly have a big effect on the future of our country and on the lives of most Americans in a way past elections haven't as much. How much attention characters in 20 or 30 years would be paying to events of 2020 would depend on their age and on the story, of course. I have to say that the 80s and 90s still feel pretty recent to this old fart, 9-11 is like yesterday, and my same-age friends and I still talk and think about events, movies, music, and politics from our misspent youth (important characterization tip for younger writers characterizing older people--time passes faster and faster as you age--it will be 2040 before you whippersnappers know it).
2020 and the next few years will likely be featured in future history books. It's got to be hard to write contemporary fiction, let alone near future fiction, set in such odd times. IMO, if one wants to write a book set in more normal times, there's nothing wrong with not specifying the exact year and allowing the reader to assume it took place in 2018 or 2019, though. Or if the year must be mentioned, just say it's 2018 or something. But it would knock me out of serious disbelief to read a book set in 2022 where everything is completely back to the way it was in 2019 and no one is talking or thinking about Covid anymore. It would knock me even more out if 2022 rolls around and we're still having to wear masks and be careful with distancing, because the vaccine is only about 50% effective and half the population refuses to take it anyway, but the novel set in that year assumes everything would be back to normal.
Unless it's clear the book really is in an alternative reality or timeline. Something like the POTUS being a fictional character, and other prominent people and events being different in some ways. And I would very much want to find the dimensional door to that timeline, thank you very much (well, okay, not if it's like the alternative timeline Chuck Wendig created in The Wanderers)