The virus that causes COVID-19 has been an evolutionarily successful virus that got the world to see and expanded its small family tree. (It was successful in his view; not so much in our view.) This means that variants of the virus have appeared in several different places, and some are “worrying variants” that are more transmissible or could be potentially more harmful. Let’s do an overview of the ones you should know about.
The last time we wrote about the variants, they had hard-to-remember code names, and scientists often talked about the codes for the mutations they contained, which created a lot of confusion when we tried to keep it clear which was which. As a result, people often used geographic nicknames (e.g., “the South African variant”) what problematic on many levels– not least because viruses travel, so that any place name quickly becomes out of date.
COVID Variants of Concern
The variants have now been renamed according to Greek lettersto make it easier to talk about and keep track of. The first four are considered “worrying variants,” which means they may be more communicable, more virulent, or better suited to bypassing public health measures than the other versions of the virus. There are four:
alpha
The “Alpha” variant B.1.1.7 was first discovered in September 2020 in Great Britain. It was among the first to hit the headlines, and it’s estimated to be 50% more transmissible than previous versions of the virus. It is currently the dominant variety in the USA. Fortunately, people vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna, or who previously had a different strain of COVID, seem to can fight it well. Tests with other vaccines have not yet been published, but the data we have is reassuring. For example, the study on the Pfizer vaccine found that it was 90% effective against this variant.
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beta
The “Beta” variant B.1.351 was first discovered in May 2020 in South Africa. It has been linked to higher hospital admissions and deaths than the original COVID. The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against beta is only 75%, however that jumps up to 97.4% when you look at severe or fatal cases, so the vaccine is still very helpful.
gamma
The “Gamma” variant P.1 was first detected in November 2020 in Brazil. Gamma is more transmissible than the original COVID, but less than alpha. Previous infection with COVID may offer less protection from gamma than other varieties. Fortunately, it doesn’t spread as quickly as other varieties. Studies in areas with both alpha and gamma found that alpha became more common over time, while gamma did not.
delta
The “Delta” variant, B.1.617.2, was first discovered in October 2020 in India. In April of this year it was considered an interesting variant – more on this category below – and was upgraded to a worrying variant in May. This is currently the most worrying variant.
Delta is more transmissible than the other variants (even compared to Alpha) and is more likely to cause serious illness. The Pfizer vaccine appears to be slightly less effective against Delta than it does against Alpha, however It’s still very protective after both doses.
Variants of Interest
Interesting variations aren’t as important as worrying variations – not yet. They have mutations that are “found or suspected” to cause the virus to behave differently, and to be detected they must also spread to the community or otherwise be judged of interest to scientists (that is, an isolated virus not qualified in the laboratory or in a few individual cases). These include:
- The “Epsilon” variants B.1.427 and B.1.429, to be seen for the first time in March 2020 in the USA
- The variant “Zeta”, P.2, seen for the first time in Brazil in April 2020
- The “Eta” variant, B.1.525, will be seen for the first time in several countries in December 2020
- The “Theta” variant, P.3, was first seen in January 2021 in the Philippines
- The “Iota” variant, B.1.526, will be seen for the first time in the USA in November 2020
- The “Kappa” variant, B.1.617.1, will be seen for the first time in October 2020 in India
- The “Lambda” variant, B.1.617.1, will be seen for the first time in Peru in August 2020
How Much Should I Worry?
So far, none of the variants differ drastically from the original COVID; our vaccines and public health interventions seem to work well against the variants, although some may be a little less effective. These are not game changers, just reasons to be extra careful. Scientists pay close attention to how these variants spread and how well we are protected from them.
Right now, it’s still best to get vaccinated when you can, and wear masks and other public health measures when you aren’t vaccinated. You can also choose to continue wearing masks while vaccinated if you feel extra careful, but the risk of developing any variant is still likely to be very small.
In addition to the interesting and worrying variants, there are another category, according to the CDC: “Variants with high consistency”. This would be used for any variant that could bypass diagnostic tests, significantly reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine, or lead to much more serious illnesses. So far, none of the COVID variants have qualified.
