Covid-19 testing in Washington DC and (below) A patient receiving her second dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Phoenix, in these file photos from 2021. As Omicron continues to evolve, epidemiologists still see a benefit to vaccinations. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
BY November 2021, nearly two years after the coronavirus emerged in China and spread across the world, the surprises seemed to be over.
More than four billion people had been vaccinated against the virus, and five million had died. Two new variants, known as alpha and delta, had surged and then ebbed. As Thanksgiving approached, many Americans were planning to resume travelling for the holiday.
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