What Will It Be Like To Live With COVID-19 Forever?

A new paper argues we can eradicate the coronavirus. But most experts believe that, thanks to the delta variant, COVID is here to stay.

For 18 months, people around the world have been dreaming about an eventual end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for a moment this spring and summer it felt tantalizingly close in the United States. Then the delta variant emerged and began tearing through the unvaccinated, and now we are right back in the thick of it. Pockets of the country are crushing their previous case records. Entire states have run out of available hospital beds. The end of the tunnel, once again, feels very far away. So when will the U.S. exit crisis mode? Are we destined to live through an endless loop of surges, followed by lulls, followed again by even greater surges?