Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
When the pandemic ends — and if that will be in 2022 — is largely up to us.
As long as nearly half of area residents remain unvaccinated, the COVID-19 pandemic will get worse before it gets better, area health leaders warn. Cases and hospitalizations will continue to climb. More people will die.
But despite foreseeing a painful beginning to 2022, Dayton-area public health experts are cautiously optimistic the COVID-19 pandemic’s severity might decrease next year.
Sara Paton, an epidemiology professor at Wright State University, explained the pandemic will end when enough people have immunity from the virus through infection or vaccination, meaning much fewer cases of severe illness and death. Then COVID‑19 will be endemic, still present but more manageable, similar to the flu or common colds.
“We know pandemics end, it’s just a matter of time,” Paton said. “I would guess it would be in 2022, maybe later in the year, but I can’t say for sure. It could be 2023.”
Paton hedged her forecast, saying many unknowns could improve or worsen the pandemic, including vaccination rates, new variants and people’s behavior.
