By giving each variant a different name and origin country,
scientists, the grief/tragedy/sympathy industry, the healthcare industry, government/corporate entities and everyone else with a financial interest in continuation of the pandemic and measures against it can keep the same trick going for years, and
getting people to do anything they tell them to, like puppets. They can keep
fucking with people's lives as long as they want as long as people allow them to by getting fearful. They must be saving the subterranean Boogeyman variant for last, for a time when people are no longer shocked/scared into doing what they are told (including with the threat of loss of jobs/companies/businesses). If people don't wake up and fight, they're going to have less and less left to fight for, the longer it takes.