You know what is possible, and maybe even likely. The versions of the common cold that usually infect huge numbers of us every year started as epidemics. That would probably have been 2 to 5 million years before modern humans even evolved. The longer time would be the most likely for Coronavirus variants, because almost all great apes can catch a Beta Corona Virus cold. That's the same family that COVID-19 comes from.
This is a very real possibility. I hope the trend continues as it seems this new variant is going to vaccinate everyone if they want it or not. To think we have all been infected by the coronavirus many times over the years and it's not going away any time soon. In many ways, covid-19 might have been a blessing of sorts in helping to push forward real technologies and stress testing our medical system/pandemic response.