GENEVA: The world is going back to normalcy as the Omicron wave is subsiding. However, health experts have warned that the next Covid variant will be more transmissible and deadly than its predecessors.

The pandemic is far from over and future variants will be more virulent than Omicron, said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, World Health Organisation (WHO) epidemiologist and technical lead on Covid-19. The next variant could more easily evade immunity and render vaccines less effective. It will be more transmissible as it has to overtake what is currently circulating, she added. She stressed on the need to get vaccinated as it protects against severe illness and death, as exhibited during the Omicron wave.