If there are no more major Covid outbreaks after Omicron, the pandemic could be over by 2022, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Russia.
However, it does not mean that the virus will vanish completely, Melita Vujnovic was quoted as saying in an interview with TASS news agency. “It’s hard to make predictions at the moment but we hope that if nothing else happens, the pandemic may end in 2022.
“What does an end to the pandemic mean? It means that there will be no major outbreaks, but it doesn’t mean that the virus will vanish. “A great number of cases means that the virus is capable of mutating so we don’t know how the situation will unfold.
However, there is cautious optimism that major outbreaks will end once Omicron spreads across the globe,” she said.
According to Vujnovic, the WHO is trying to predict when it will happen, but it’s difficult because countries “are now changing their testing strategies”.