An Israeli immunologist suggested this week that the spread of the newly detected Omicron variant — which has sparked panic and resulted in travel bans worldwide — may actually signal the beginning of the end of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“In my view maybe this new variant is the light at the end of the tunnel,” Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Zvika Granot said Tuesday in an interview with i24 News, an Israeli international media network, adding, “This is a variant that is highly infectious but maybe not as aggressive.”

During the interview, Granot argued that pandemics don’t normally end due entirely to an effective vaccine. Rather, he said, “herd immunity” is often achieved when the virus ultimately mutates to become highly transmissible but minimally aggressive.