What are scenarios for future variants?
We must continue to monitor the development and emergence of new variants closely, so that we can discover new variants at an early stage and understand their properties in order not to be caught unprepared by a new wave
Richard Neher
‘Omicron might evolve further and beget a daughter variant, an old variant might reemerge, or an entirely new variant might develop. The development of hybrids, for example the creation of new variants through the recombination of old variants, would also be possible – this is something we already know from other coronaviruses.
For example, it is possible that Delta comes back. It is a highly transmissible variant that might be competitive against Omicron again once immunity against it has waned. Unfortunately, Delta often leads to severe disease. Or another variant with unknown properties may appear. We must therefore continue to monitor the development and emergence of new variants closely, so that we can discover new variants at an early stage and understand their properties in order not to be caught unprepared by a new wave. What these waves will look like in the end and when exactly they will come cannot be predicted at the moment.’
Source: University of Basel
Source: Healthcare in Europe
