The World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Europe believes the coronavirus outbreak will end in early 2022. Hans Kluge told Danish state broadcaster DR that COVID-19 will still be prevalent in 2021, but it will be more manageable than in 2020.

Stating that the worst scenarios are now over, Kluge said there is more information concerning the virus compared to 2020, when it first began spreading. He cautioned, however, that no one can know the future of the COVID-19 pandemic in advance.

“There will continue to be a virus, but I don’t think restrictions will be needed. This is an optimistic message. Mutations are normal and the virus is trying to adapt to the person infected, but the rapid spread of the mutations are a concern for us. The WHO is closely monitoring the effectiveness of vaccines developed against COVID-19 due to the fast-spreading types of the virus. Vaccines can be altered based on the new mutations if necessary and there is no need to produce them from the ground up”, - added Kluge.