For much of 2021, we have only heard about prediction of the next wave of COVID-19, about new variants like Delta and Delta Plus, and rising number of cases. But for the first time, we have received news that India may be in the final stages of this pandemic.
In an interview with The Wire on 25 August, the World Health Organization's top scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that India could have reached some stage endemicity.
Essentially, an endemic is defined as a stage in the pandemic when the virus is only present in small areas of the population and the rate of infection within that population is predictable. Some examples of endemic diseases are chicken pox, malaria, and even the common cold.