Pandemic 3 years later: Has the COVID-19 virus won?

A woman wearing a face mask and face shield get ready for her routine COVID-19 throat swab at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.

Andy Wong / Andy Wong

On the third anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus is still spreading and the death toll is nearing 7 million worldwide. Yet most people have resumed their normal lives, thanks to a wall of immunity built from infections and vaccines.

The virus appears here to stay, along with the threat of a more dangerous version sweeping the planet.

“New variants emerging anywhere threaten us everywhere,” said virus researcher Thomas Friedrich of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Maybe that will help people to understand how connected we are.”