Is the competition between variants the end of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic? A journey from Wuhan to XBB.1.16

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated 780 million severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and approximately 6.9 million deaths related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as of March 2023 (https://covid19.who.int/). These numbers have allowed COVID-19 infection to be ranked as one of the most important pandemics in terms of prevalence and mortality in recent human history, causing widespread fear and concern for global health security.