Medscape January 5, 2022
The record-setting surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide — including more than one million new infections reported on January 3 — raises questions about whether the higher Omicron variant transmissibility will accelerate a transition from pandemic to endemic disease.
Furthermore, does the steep increase in number of people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 mean the United States could finally achieving a meaningful level of ‘herd immunity’?
Infectious disease experts weigh in on these possibilities.
An Endemic Eventuality?
Whether the current surge will mean the predicted switch to endemic COVID-19 will come sooner, however, “is very hard to predict,” Michael Lin, MD MPH, told Medscape Medical News.
“It’s an open question,” he said, “if another highly transmissible variant will emerge.”
On a positive...