Why COVID-19 Might Not be the ‘Big One’ - and What We Can Do to Prepare

As vaccine rollouts take place in many countries around the world, it feels like the globe will soon be able to take a collective sigh of relief that this pandemic could nearly be over. However, the reality may not be so simple. Leading scientists including the chair of the WHO’s strategic and technical advisory group for infectious hazards expect that SARS-CoV-2 will become endemic, circulating amongst the global population on a long-term basis.

The collective devastation of COVID-19 has raised the question of how existing and emerging diseases will continue to affect our global population – and the science is suggesting that outbreaks could become even more frequent and deadlier in the future.