The Malthusians are in power so that's very possible. Their brains are pure capitalist realism, the only way they can conceive of dealing with climate change is exterminating people (but of course not the big consumers because that would be literal suicide). The pandemic gives a perfect opportunity for this, because all they have to do is nothing, plus they can profiteer from vaccines if they feel ambitious, which means the virus will keep mutating because the global south can't afford it. So if it ends it sort of has to end with the destruction of capitalism.