COVID eventually being ‘endemic’ doesn’t mean we let our guard down

One of the mantras of this pandemic is that COVID-19 will eventually become an endemic disease that we’ll live with. As immunity increases across the population through vaccines and natural infection, the virus’ ability to transmit will weaken. But scientists are warning that “endemic” is really a technical term and COVID-19’s impact on a population can still be devastating whether it’s endemic or not. Marco Werman speaks with Aris Katzourakis, professor of evolution and genomics, at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.