If you think that's fun, imagine the steady state being like flu - monitoring Covid variants, then trying to predict which ones will be the next "wave".

Some years you'll get it right and put a big damper on spread and some years you'll pick the wrong variant leaving most people unprotected.

That's one reason why flu deaths in the US fluctuate annually (in addition to the severity of the flu). A few years back the vaccine basically did nothing.