Bill Gates said the darkness from the omicron variant’s surge won’t last forever.
Quote: “As countries experience their Omicron wave health systems will be challenged. Most of the severe cases will be unvaccinated people. Once Omicron goes through a country then the rest of the year should see far fewer cases so Covid can be treated more like seasonal flu,” Gates said in a Twitter Q&A.
Why it matters: As the omicron wave appears to peak in parts of the Northeast, there are obviously questions about what happens next in the pandemic and what that means for all of us.
Catch up quick: For weeks, scientists and experts have been saying something similar. The ongoing thought is that the omicron variant will provide enough immunity to make the coronavirus more endemic, according to CNBC.
Yes, but: We’ve seen this play out before. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said the COVID-19 pandemic would become more endemic after the delta variant wave, as I reported for the Deseret News.
- Of course, the omicron wave popped up almost out of nowhere and has been on a tear since then, infecting thousands of people every day.
The bottom line: The omicron wave is leading to a surge of cases nationwide, putting millions of people at risk every day. But the wave’s end could signal a hopeful new chapter for the pandemic.
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