Coronavirus

Scientists Warn Of Future COVID Variants

Future COVID variants won't necessarily be milder, experts say.

Scientists Warn Of Future COVID Variants
Lee Jin-man / AP
SMS

Experts are warning that COVID-19’s Omicron variant won’t be its last.

“We can’t really predict when or where the next variant will come, but it doesn’t seem as though the virus is out of tricks, but we just need to catch up closer with what it’s doing,” Dr. Stuart Ray, professor of medicine and oncology at the John Hopkins School of Medicine, told Newsy.

While the Omicron variant was much more infectious than previous variants, it was milder. That doesn’t mean, however, that future variants will be less severe, Ray explained.

“We don’t know that the next step in becoming more infectious will mean that it will be milder, but we can hope that,” said Ray.

He said the nation needs to prepare for a worst-case scenario, though there is reason to believe it may weaken.