The World Health Organisation has advised the pandemic could soon be over, with the weekly number of global deaths continuing to decline.

Epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely said it felt like the end.

“We are in a much better position now, we have a lot of immunity from vaccines and natural infection,” he told the ABC on Friday.

“If we don’t see anything much different from Omicron come along in the next six months or so, I think we are looking pretty good.”

Jane Halton, who chairs an association called the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said while COVID-19 deaths were underestimated the numbers were looking positive.

Professor Halton said while the virus was unpredictable it was “amazing” that almost two-thirds of the global population had been double vaccinated.

“If we don’t see another particularly nasty variant I think people will be feeling quite optimistic,” she said.

- Maeve Bannister and Tess Ikonomou, AAP