Covid-19 Pandemic May Become an Endemic in 2022

It’s been nearly two years since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world hard. Unfortunately, even after two years, we are still grappling with the evil virus which keeps transforming and antigenically evolving. People, while bidding adieu to 2021, were greeted with a new variant of the coronavirus – Omicron.

As the new variant crept in and created a fresh wave of the pandemic, countries are considering giving a booster dose of the vaccines so as to prevent the mayhem that was caused during the previous Delta-induced phase. A discussion simmering in the scientific fraternity about the Covid-19 pandemic is that it is turning into an endemic.

A vision that currently seems idealistic, the Covid-19 turning into an endemic still holds enough weight to actually become a reality soon. However, before we witness this reality, there is still a substantial amount of policy-making that needs to be done. In addition, an approach specific to the transforming nature of the virus needs to be taken.

According to a Bloomberg’s report, the Omicron variant that emerged from South Africa did give a hard blow, but the damage and the paranoia are comparatively lower than what the world witnessed in the past two waves. In an interview with Bloomberg, Nadia Calvino, the deputy prime minister of Spain, said, “We probably are starting to see a transition phase toward this becoming an endemic disease, which does not mean that we have to stop being prudent. But it does signal that we should take measures that are very different to the ones we had to take two years ago.”

With the virus churning out new variants time and again, countries, inevitably, will have to consider COVID-19 as a disease that can be managed and can be lived with. Although COVID-19 wouldn’t mirror the properties of the endemic (a region-specific disease), it would behave a tad bit similar.

Experts believe that the Covid-19 pandemic may follow a seasonal pattern, with cases proliferating during the winters and outbreaks of the disease becoming local. It sounds probable because the world that dealt with an unprecedented visitor two years ago is now better prepared to tackle the issues that arise with the existence of coronavirus.

“2022 may be the year that the pandemic enters an endemic phase, but it really depends on what happens and the decisions that are made across the world,” Noubar Afeyan, Co-founder, Moderna Inc., told Bloomberg.

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