The restrictions are already being lifted all around us. Texas, New York, Wyoming, Connecticut, California; coast to coast the restrictions are going away. The Trump vaccines are making COVID-19 obsolete and the third generation (mRNA platform) can see the vaccine adapter in weeks - not months or years - so mutations aren’t going to save this thing.
When new case numbers and deaths drop towards nearly zero, the general public isn’t going to put up with any restrictions. Sure, you’ll have a few Karens who want everyone masked and in a bubble suit for all time, but Average Joe Sixpack is done with all this stuff already and just wants to go back to normal. Any politician standing in the way of that is risking their career. You think Cuomo and Newsom would be cutting back their restrictions if they had a choice?
Newsome just said we can’t go back to normal due to inequity issues, so even if mutation can’t be used (which it may still be), now they are saying our old way of life is too “racist” to go back to. I suspect more shutdowns in the near future since whatever happens in California is soon to come to a state near you.