People, Not Science, Decide When a Pandemic Is Over

All epidemics end eventually. How will we know when the COVID-19 epidemic is really over? Sociology may be the answer to that question.

Things seem to be at a turning point as the world passes the second anniversary of the World Health Organization's declaration of the COVID Pandemic. A large percentage of people are estimated to have some immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease, if they have been exposed to it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new risk metrics that suggest people in many parts of the U.S. no longer need to wear a mask. There is a growing belief among some people that the acute phase of the epidemic may be subsiding.