Even as the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly across the world, and outpacing the previous Delta strain, several Russian and Danish experts have said that the pandemic will end up as seasonal epidemics in this year, media reports said.
According to epidemiologist and Russia’s former chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko, the coronavirus pandemic may be over by May given the observance of all preventive measures and the vaccination drive, the media reported recently.
“It’s a long time until May… If we do now what is needed, then by that time it should slow down already, at least, get under control,” he said.
There are no grounds now for panic since vaccines have already been developed and it is necessary to focus on inoculation against the coronavirus infection, he added.
The Russian Academy of Sciences President Alexander Sergeyev also stated that the current Covid-19 pandemic will transform into seasonal epidemics starting from 2022, the report said.
“I expect that the Covid-19 pandemic will turn into seasonal epidemics, like flu. I should say that the current situation looks pretty much like the 1960s, when the Hong Kong flu epidemic had very serious effects, when many people were seriously ill.