en Epidemiologic studies including microbial genotyping, phenotyping and serotyping Epidemiologic studies including microbial genotyping, phenotyping and serotyping Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">What has happened in the world since the pandemic began? </span></span></span></b></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the status of the disease is still unclear to us. Up to August 1, 2022, the disease has killed about 6.4 million people worldwide, although the actual death toll is estimated to be three times more than the official death toll </span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">[1]</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">. During this time, safe vaccines with high efficacy against the virus have been developed, methods of viral transmission and pathogenicity are better understood, and more effective treatments have been proposed that have helped better control the disease over time. A significant percentage of the world&#39;s population has acquired the infection at least once, more than 65% of the world&#39;s population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and about 25% have received at least one booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 12 billion doses&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">have been administered globally, with 5.5 million&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">added daily. However, the vaccine distribution is inequitable, and in low-income countries, only about 20% of people have received at least one dose of the vaccine </span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">[2]</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">. </span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; COVID-19 pandemic, Outbreak, Variants, Leaky vaccines, Disease end, (re)emerging disease 146 148 http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-441-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Ehsan Mostafavi mostafavi@pasteur.ac.ir 0000-0002-1997-517X Yes Department of Epidemiology and Biostatics, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran