By Michele Gershberg (Reuters) – For much of the world, 2022 marked the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift was palpable after several failed re-opening attempts in many countries. The arrival of the Omicron variant in late 2021, with its ability to re-infect people and the record spike in COVID cases that followed, initially stoked scientists’ worst fears and confounded predictions for a return to normalcy. Yet in the ensuing months, a more stable scenario played out. Emerging variations of the coronavirus so far remain closely related to Omicron, without radically alteri…