Various strains of the coronavirus are likely to re-infect people every few years, according to a British medical expert.
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, predicts that more variants of the virus could appear even when the pandemic ends, according to a recent report.
The World Health Organization has identified three variants of the coronavirus, including strains from South Africa and Brazil, which experts say could be resistant to vaccines.
Hunter said it was “difficult to predict” how COVID would move, adding that new strains could not lead to serious disease.
However, in an interview with BBC Radio 4, he called on governments to be vigilant while reopening economies.
“We know that new variants are developing, which is very obvious, and some new variants are spreading and becoming dominant,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. … Finally, along with other human coronaviruses, we expect to be reinfected on average every two to four years with the same virus. ”
