Current scientific and public‑health consensus is that SARS‑CoV‑2 has become an endemic virus that continues to circulate globally, much like seasonal influenza and the common cold, and will persist for the foreseeable future rather than being eradicated.

• The WHO and many national health agencies now describe COVID‑19 as being in an endemic phase in most regions, meaning the virus continues to circulate with predictable or recurring patterns instead of being eliminated.
• No credible body expects eradication; instead, long‑term management strategies (vaccination updates, treatment protocols, and surveillance) are framed around ongoing, indefinite circulation.

Given that by late 2025 COVID‑19 is clearly still present worldwide and treated as a permanent part of the infectious‑disease landscape, the prediction that “COVID's going to be around forever, like the cold or the flu” has been borne out in practice.