But to my mind, if COVID-19 is not causing more people to get seriously ill than another 'non-pandemic' infectious disease (seasonal flu, for example), it makes sense to declare the COVID-19 pandemic over. I think it's too early to say whether COVID-19 waves will happen every winter, more frequently, or less frequently.

Even now, for someone who is vaccinated and boosted, the risk of hospitalization is higher if they were to get the flu than if they were to get COVID-19. It's difficult to know exactly how the pandemic will 'end,' but I think there's at least a reasonable chance that COVID-19 ends up being less of a public health concern than the flu. When it's less worrisome than the fluĭavid Dowdy, associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Just because the rules are changing, does that mean the pandemic is really ending? Here, Johns Hopkins University public health experts offer insights into what signs their research tells them will signal that SARS-CoV-2 is moving from pandemic to endemic. The idea of setting aside a bulk order of newly purchased, highly protective N95 masks might cause whiplash for some, while others gleefully head to their local pub to celebrate sans mask, NIOSH-approved or otherwise.

Some are having an easier time than others embracing this shift in mindset. With omicron cases plummeting, indoor mask mandates in every state but Hawaii are set to expire-a change that would have seemed unthinkable just weeks ago. As the United States approaches the second anniversary of its initial COVID-19 shutdowns, we're daring to dream about what the end of the pandemic might look like.

When will covid end