As the year comes to a close, some are taking the opportunity to look back over the milestones achieved and the areas that could have been improved on in dealing with the pandemic.
The omicron variant, in particular, has cast a shadow over the end of this year, as cases have surged across the world, affecting everything from flights to New Year's Eve plans.
"It's decidedly more contagious," said Dr. Mark Cameron, immunologist and professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" on Friday with Dan Mitchinson.
"It also appears to be less likely to cause severe illness overall and put you in the hospital," he said.
But just based on the numbers, this new variant has caused a new "public health delivery crisis," he said.
At this time last year, people were also mostly working from home, being told to stay inside and keep masked. "The more things change, the more they stay the same," said Cameron.
Omicron is likely to persist for the duration of this year's cold and flu season. It’s likely to tamp down a bit in January and February, similar to last year's surge around this time.
"However, spring break travel did bring us another surge," he said. Things might get better in the spring, but we still "can’t declare victory," just yet, because this past year the delta variant emerged in the spring and summer seasons.
It's possible another omicron type variant will emerge during that time, and if variants continue to develop at the same pace, it's also possible people might need to continue getting boosted on a yearly basis. "I think it will be a part of our yearly vaccine regiment," said Cameron.
"Because that's really the frontline of our defense," he said. "Our neutralizing antibody levels to make sure the virus doesn’t get in our cells at all."
Those who have received their boosters so far are faring the best out of the population for not getting COVID-19 at all, or if they do get a breakthrough infection, they are less likely to transmit it to others.
As the new year looms, with another whole year of the pandemic under our belts, there’s hope that communication from health experts and governement bodies will improve, as in the past there were times when the execution of disseminating information was not well done.
"That might have created confusion on how best to deal with this virus, how best to protect ourselves," said Cameron.
But it boils down to the same points over and over again, get boosted, get vaccinated, wear masks, keep distance, he said.
And once this peak begins a downward trajectory, in the spring, "We just can't declare victory, we have to keep going," said Cameron, in order to get the end, where the virus isn't killing people in the same way it has been.
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