haxxiy on 11 December 2022
Seems like we're through the BQ peak over here.
Meanwhile, China just did a 180° in their policies. Though we can't rely on their numbers, except to see signs of a massive wave over there during this winter. Since they don't have much immunity, at least, ~ 1B people being infected won't generate further escape variants since there's no pressure for them to evolve.
As for what the virus does next, it'll depend on the nature of immunity from BQ/XBB infections. There are a couple of sites that can be targeted by antibodies that the virus REALLY don't want to mess with, so if they are the main antigenic sites, evolution could slow dramatically, and we should fall into an annual pattern or close to it.
