The comparatively milder infections with the Omicron variant and higher levels of population immunity have raised hopes for a weakening of the pandemic. We argue that the lower severity of Omicron is a coincidence and that ongoing rapid antigenic evolution is likely to produce new variants that may escape immunity and be more severe.

中文翻译：

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抗原进化将导致严重程度不可预测的新 SARS-CoV-2 变体


Omicron 变种感染相对较轻，且人群免疫力较高，这给人们带来了疫情减弱的希望。我们认为，Omicron 的严重程度较低是一个巧合，持续的快速抗原进化可能会产生新的变异体，这些变异体可能会逃避免疫并变得更加严重。