Next Variant of Concern likely to be more infectious than Omicron: WHO

Further, the official said that the world may also see seasonal patterns for infection surges, as the coronavirus is a respiratory pathogen. “But the variants are a wild card. We still do not know everything about them and the future trajectory of that.”

“What we do know, is that vaccines work. They prevent patients from needing hospitalisations and death. Also, wearing face masks, avoiding crowds and ventilation works,” added Kerkhove, urging everybody to follow safety protocols.

This comes days after the official had stated that now is not the time to let our guards down and asked people to continue wearing masks.

“You will not have to wear a mask forever and you will not have to physically distance forever. But for now, we need to keep doing this. We will get out of this, but we are not quite there yet,” she said.

A few days ago, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had also warned that conditions remain ideal for more coronavirus variants to emerge and it’s dangerous to assume Omicron is the last one or that “we are in the endgame.”