Javier Arranz, spokesperson for the Balearics regional infectious diseases committee, believes that in 2022 "we could see the end of the pandemic, at least as we know it now".
Echoing what other health experts have been saying, Arranz adds that new perspectives are emerging because there are many different vaccines in place than just the ones being used now, and designed to avoid infection and to prevent serious disease. There are also new treatments and the evolution of the virus itself.
"This first onslaught of Omicron gives us clues as to where it will go. It will be less serious and with a different pathology; less important." The way in which the pandemic is managed will change, the anticipation being that there will be a focus on outbreaks. Covid may become an endemic disease that continues to circulate, but under control.