It’s the question that has been on everyone’s mind since March 2020: When will the pandemic end?

For some, the concept evokes images of celebrations in the streets, hugging strangers, and a grand return to pre-pandemic concepts of normal for all. But, as we’re learning some 15 months later, there is not a sudden, clear “end date” to this traumatic pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 3.8 millionpeople worldwide, and counting.

Rather, the pandemic is likely to fade away from daily life as vaccination rates rise and COVID-19 cases continue to drop in response. But that won’t be a straightforward, uniform return to normalcy for everyone. How the final stretch of the pandemic feels will vary from person to person, and place to place. And it will hinge largely on two factors: vaccination rates and variants.

Read the full story at News@Northeastern.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens.