From pandemic to endemic: Global experts seeing ‘gradual evolution’ of COVID-19.
“We’re looking at the time between now and end of 2022, which is the time we estimate for the global rollout of vaccines — and vaccinating those most at risk and vulnerable — that will change the dynamic of the patterns of transmission that we’re seeing now,” the UN health agency told Global News.A number of effective COVID-19 vaccines at our disposal have altered the course of the pandemic, reducing severe outcomes of the disease.Vaccines prevent lockdowns, not always COVID-19 spread: experts.
Barriers related to access amid a limited global vaccine supply are holding many countries back, experts say.A widespread vaccination drive is needed to curb the global spread of COVID-19, according to Horacio Bach, an infectious diseases expert at the University of British Columbia.The good news, though, is as immunity goes up — with greater vaccine uptake and infections — cases of COVID-19 will likely get milder over time, he added.In March 2020, the WHO characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic, as it had spread to 114 countries.However, since the term is not recognized under international law, there is no general, formal mechanism for declaring the beginning or end of a pandemic, the WHO told Global News.