COVID-19 was officially designated a pandemic in March of 2020.
At that point, some scientists already predicted the only way out of the pandemic was when it became endemic — or essentially when the infection generally stopped interfering with our lives.
Now, as omicron has become the dominant COVID strain in the U.S., and because it appears to cause less severe disease, some experts suggest we are entering the endemic stage.
But past variants have completely upended expectations for the virus, and a future variant may only extend the pandemic even further.
We speak with two experts about the possibility of COVID becoming endemic — or, in other words, how the pandemic might end.
GUESTS
Dr. Katherine J. Wu, staff writer at The Atlantic
Dr. Jonathan Quick, adjunct professor of global health at Duke University, former president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health and former director of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policies at the World Health Organization
