Covid-19 Variants

Posted: February 1, 2021

As of January 29, 2021 there are three new Covid-19 variants. Current vaccines for their effectiveness against the new variants.

The UK Variant also known as B.1.1.7 This variant, in particular, is known to spread more easily. This case was discovered in September and only counted for a small percentage of cases but this changed. By December, 2/3 of London's Covid-19 diagnosis' were as a result of the new variant. On January 22, Boris Johnson said that the UK variant may be more deadly; however, more studies need to be done to confirm. The United States has traced the UK variant as of the end of January.

The South Africa variant also known as B.1351 is said to have shared some mutations with the UK variant. Not much is known about this variant at the moment but there have been cases found in the U.S. South Carolina confirmed its first South African Covid-19 variant case in late January to beginning of February.

The Brazil variant also known as P.1 was discovered in a Japanese airport during a screening in January. This particular variant has been found in several parts of the United States as of the end of January. Just like the other two variants this one (P.1) is still being studied by scientists.