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What A ‘Forever War’ Against COVID Would Mean

In this photo Dec. 25, 2020 released by Xinhua News Agency, packages of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products are seen at a production plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd, a unit of state-owned Sinopharm in Beijing. The Chinese drugmaker said Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020 its coronavirus vaccine was found to be 79.3% effective at preventing infection in preliminary data from the final round of testing, moving Beijing closer to possibly being able to fulfill its pledge to supply other developing countries.(Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via AP) — FILE - In this Dec. 25, 2020, file photo, released by Xinhua News Agency, packages of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products are seen at a production plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd, a unit... FILE - In this Dec. 25, 2020, file photo, released by Xinhua News Agency, packages of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products are seen at a production plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd, a unit of state-owned Sinopharm in Beijing. China has given conditional approval to a coronavirus vaccine developed by state-owned Sinopharm. The vaccine is the first one approved for general use in China.(Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via AP, File) MORE LESS

February 3, 2021 6:07 p.m.

I wrote today about the prospect of COVID-19 becoming a “forever war,” with the response looking something more like a constant battle against a highly deadly flu virus, without its seasonal weaknesses.

It’s a grim but very real prospect.

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