We've already seen two major surges driven by the emergence of new variants of COVID-19.
First, it was the delta variant and now the omicron variant is wreaking havoc nationwide. It would be nice to know just how many more variants we should expect and what they might look like when they arrive.
Already scientists say we've encountered variants that have mutated at a much faster rate than most anyone expected.
"Really these jumps, these accumulations of multiple mutations are the oddities that we can't really explain how they happened," said Andrew Pekosz, a professor of microbiology at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. "But we know that when they have happened, they've resulted in variants that are really a major increase in danger to the human population."
Omicron, of course, is the most recent example.
What are the chances the next variant might learn to evade our immune system entirely? "Very, very low," Pekosz told KCBS Radio's "In Depth."
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