The End of the Pandemic Will Not Be Televised

When will it end! That’s the thought on most people’s minds when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic that’s now in its third year. But getting to a conclusion and knowing exactly when the world is no longer in the midst of a pandemic might not be clear to medical professionals or the general population. A new article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) argues that pandemic endings are not very obvious and tend to occur when social life resumes in a country rather than with the achievement of vaccination, containment, or other medical targets. The BMJ article also argues that the diligent and meticulous tracking of the coronavirus’ spread might actually make it harder to eventually know when the pandemic has, at long last, ended for good.