Hospitalizations and deaths are rising, but COVID-19 cases are starting to ebb in our region. So, what will happen after this Omicron wave? Andrew Pekosz — Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health — says Omicron marks the transition between a pandemic and an endemic. He says after this winter surge, the world will develop a population immunity — guarding the majority of society from severe disease. In short, the coronavirus will likely settle and become one of the many other respiratory diseases.