Just as we thought the world was opening up, our hopes were dashed. The Omicron variant has the event industry second guessing its in person strategy for 2022. The pandemic is now entering into its third year as of March 2022.
Predicting how viruses will evolve is not possible. All we know is that it will evolve no matter what. Scientists in South Africa have determined that Omicron is much more transmissible than the Delta variant. However, they are also saying that it might not be as serious an illness as previous ones.
It is estimated that nearly 80% of populations in high income and middle income countries have been vaccinated. Whereas upto 60% of lower middle income countries have been vaccinated. However, only 20% of low income countries have been vaccinated. This shows some promise, however things are still hanging by a thread.
What does this mean for the future of in person events?
COVID-19 Will Become Endemic
The prediction now is that COVID-19 is here to stay. However, like the flu, it will just be something people contract. Now that we know a little more than we did when it started, treatments will hopefully also become more effective. Vaccines seem to be protecting us well thus far, and are now being extended to children under the age of five in the U.S. The rate of deaths have also gone down as vaccinations have gone up. Technology is adapting to become contactless. All in all, it is not as scary as it was in March 2020.
This does not mean we let our guard down. We still don’t know much about this virus and only time will really tell. Mask mandates will most likely persist and countries, companies and organizations will impose vaccination as a mandatory requirement. In recent history, this has not sat well with the public, sparking protests and unrest in 2020 and 2021.
This most likely means that safety is still a top priority. The virtual world is here to stay and we may have to work with hybrid experiences. Hybrid events offer the opportunity to offer both physical and virtual perks. Though challenging at first, it seems it has made headway.
According to a poll conducted by vFairs, 72% of individuals said they would prefer either a hybrid or exclusively virtual events in the advent of omicron. Only 28% said they would prefer live events. So people are still leaning towards virtual and hybrid events as we enter 2022!