Scientists say 'premature' to predict if there will be another major COVID-19 wave, but room for optimism
The coronavirus pandemic has been so unpredictable over the last couple of years that trying to decipher whether the recent Delta variant surge (which is now declining) will be the last of its size feels "bold" and "premature," Nicholas Reich, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, told The Hill. He noted that new variants could pop up, and there are still questions about how long immunity from vaccination and prior infection last, leaving open the possibility for another intense period.
Sure, those are things to keep an eye on, David Dowdy, a Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist told The Hill, acknowledging that "anyone who says they can predict the future of the pandemic is probably lying to you." But there's also room for optimism, he argued. At least in the sense that "we will not see another massive wave the way that we have seen so far." One reason, Dowdy suggested, is that a new, vaccine-evasive variant is unlikely to emerge in the short-term because Delta has remained so dominant across the world nothing else has been able to gain a real foothold. Read more at The Hill.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cow
Speed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and early
Speed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US bans final type of asbestos
Speed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Seattle Children's Hospital sues Texas over 'sham' demand for transgender medical records
Speed Read Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed records of any Texan who received gender-affirming care at the Washington hospital
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Afghanistan has a growing female suicide problem
Speed Read The Taliban has steadily whittled away women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan over the past 2 years, prompting a surge in depression and suicide
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levels
Speed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published