Coronavirus variants

Coronavirus variants
 * VOC 202012/01, also known as lineage B.1.1.7, 20I/501Y.V1 and popularly as UK coronavirus variant and Alpha variant R0 = 4.0
 * Detection of E484K mutation in B.1.1.7 VOC 202012/01
 * 501Y.V2 variant, also known as 20H/501Y.V2 (formerly 20C/501Y.V2), B.1.351 lineage, South African variant or Beta variant
 * 501Y.V3 variant. In Brazil, a variant of Sars-CoV-2 (known as P.1) emerged that was first was identified in four travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at Haneda airport outside Tokyo, Japan. or Gamma variant.
 * Kent variant with E484K mutation
 * Indian variant B.1.617
 * Variant B.1.617.1 aka Kappa variant
 * Variant B.1.617.2 aka Delta variant, R0 = 4.76
 * US B.1.427.9 aka Epsilon variant
 * Colombian B.1.621 aka Mu variant
 * yet another South-African variant, B.1.1.529 aka the Nu variant renamed Omicron variant
 * Classification
 * variant of interest
 * variant of concern
 * variant of variant of high consequence

External

 * Gov.uk, Investigation of novel Sars-CoV-2 variant: Variant of Concern 202012/01
 * CDC.gov, Sars-CoV-2 variant classifications and definitions
 * CDC.gov, Variant proportions

News

 * 22 Dec 2021, Economist.com, Omicron covid cases are less severe than Delta, new studies say, But the number of infections may still overwhelm hospitals
 * 22 Dec 2021, Politico.eu, Omicron causes less severe disease, studies from Scotland, England suggest, The studies are the first in the UK to show the risk of hospitalization from Omicron versus Delta is lower.
 * 21 Dec 2021, (fr) FranceInfo.tv, Covid-19 : ce que l'on sait de l'efficacité des vaccins et des doses de rappel contre le variant Omicron, Face au nouveau variant, le niveau de protection assuré par les vaccins à ARN messager reste aujourd'hui le plus satisfaisant. Mais les scientifiques craignent une baisse de l'immunité avec le temps, même après trois injections.
 * 20 Dec 2021, CDC.gov, Omicron variant: what you need to know, We have the tools to fight Omicron
 * 20 Dec 2021, Politico.eu, Moderna vaccine booster shows promise against Omicron variant, Half-dose booster shown to increase neutralizing antibodies 37-fold against the newest coronavirus variant.
 * 17 Dec 2021, Economist.com, Wave of mutation - What the spread of Omicron means for the world, Hospitals are likely to struggle but boosters will help, predict two new studiesThat Omicron can spread so fast in a country such as Britain, where almost 70% of the population is vaccinated and millions have had covid, is largely because of its astounding ability to evade immunity from both vaccines and previous infections.The researchers found that in Britain a two-dose course of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine was, at most, 20% effective against infection by Omicron. Having had covid in the past was also of little help, conferring only 19% protection—far less than the 85% against Delta found in other studies.Boosters, however, can make a big difference. A third jab using Pfizer’s vaccine after an initial course of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer jab was between 55% and 80% effective against infection by Omicron.
 * 17 Dec 2021, Politico.eu, EU triggers order of vaccines adapted for Omicron variant, The new jabs will be specially designed to protect against the mutated variant.EU member countries put in an order for over 180 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines adapted for the Omicron variant, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said overnight.
 * 15 Dec 2021, ECDC, Assessment of the further emergence of the Sars-CoV-2 Omicron VOC in the context of the ongoing Delta VOC transmission in the EU/EEA, 18th update
 * 09 Dec 2021, (fr) Lesoir.be, Vaccins, contagiosité, dangerosité: ce que l’on sait sur le variant omicron, De premières études, encore non relues de manière indépendante, montrent en effet cette semaine que les vaccinés semblent générer beaucoup moins d’anticorps efficaces contre omicron que contre les précédents variants.Mais, selon les groupes Pfizer et BioNTech, à l’origine de l’un des principaux vaccins, il suffirait de donner trois doses pour retrouver un niveau d’anticorps équivalent.« Il n’y a aucune raison de douter » que les vaccins actuels évitent les formes graves chez les patients infectés par omicron, a estimé auprès de l’AFP Michael Ryan, le responsable des urgences de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS).
 * 08 Dec 2021, Politico.eu, First studies suggest Omicron can evade vaccine protection, boosters needed, Variant spreading rapidly in Europe with case numbers doubling every three days or less.Preliminary data from South Africa, where Omicron was first detected last month, indicates that two doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine are largely ineffective against the variant. Immunity was stronger, however, for those who had also had prior infection.BioNTech’s data was first to land on Wednesday. Its laboratory studies suggest the Omicron coronavirus variant can escape vaccine immunity from two doses, although booster shots may provide protection, especially from severe disease.
 * 07 Dec 2021, Economist.com, Omicron is already dominant in South Africa, The variant appears to have rapidly outcompeted Delta and set off another wave of infectionsWith Omicron now detected in more than 50 countries, the world will soon find out whether it will displace Delta elsewhere too. What evidence is available so far seems to suggest that it will.
 * 01 Dec 2021, CDC.gov, What you need to know about variants, The recent emergence of the Omicron variant further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and general prevention strategies needed to protect against Covid-19. Everyone 5 and older should get vaccinated and boosters are recommended for everyone 18 years and older.
 * 30 Nov 2021, Economist.com, BioNTech’s boss, Ugur Sahin, remains sanguine about Omicron, Its vaccine may need a tweak, but most important is to speed up booster shots.Mr Sahin warns that covid-19 will be around for a long time, and that there will be more variants than letters in the Greek alphabet. After Omicron there might be Pi. And the new variants will not necessarily be milder.
 * 30 Nov 2021, NPR.org, African leaders condemn travel restrictions as omicron variant spreads globally, The bans may deter countries, especially those in lower-resource parts of the world, from reporting new strains of the coronavirus in the future, says Mia Malan, editor-in-chief of the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism, a media outlet based in Johannesburg.
 * 29 Nov 2021, Economist.com, Omicron is starting to spread around the world, A lack of genomic sequencing means many cases are likely to have gone undetected.In general they are troubling if mutations in their genetic code result in any one of four changes in behaviour: 1) a rise in transmissibility; 2) a weaker immune response from vaccines (and antibodies acquired by infection, too); 3) a way of evading detection by tests; 4) or causing more severe illness.South Africa has complained that it is being unfairly punished for its diligence in sequencing the disease, which might create a disincentive for other countries to invest in genomic sequencing.
 * 28 Nov 2021, Economist.com, Omicron and on - What to do about covid-19’s threatening new variant, South Africa’s scientists have bought the world time on Omicron. It should use it
 * 26 Nov 2021, Economist.com, Mutant strain - Countries are scrambling to stop a new covid variant, How big a threat is Omicron?
 * 15 Sep 2021, (fr) FranceInfo, Variants Alpha, Delta, Mu… L'apparition récurrente de nouvelles souches du virus du Covid-19 est-elle inquiétante ?
 * 28 Aug 2021, Politico.eu, Coronavirus Delta variant doubles risk of hospitalization: Study, Analysis focused on people who had not been vaccinated.
 * 26 Aug 2021, CDC.gov, Delta variant: what we know about the science, The Delta variant is more than 2x as contagious as previous variants. Some data suggest the Delta variant might cause more severe illness than previous strains in unvaccinated persons. Although breakthrough infections happen much less often than infections in unvaccinated people, individuals infected with the Delta variant, including fully vaccinated people with symptomatic breakthrough infections, can transmit it to others. CDC is continuing to assess data on whether fully vaccinated people with asymptomatic breakthrough infections can transmit. The greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are much more likely to contract and, therefore, transmit the virus. 
 * 11 Aug 2021, Pro.politico.eu, Living with the Delta coronavirus variant … and beyond?, The highly infectious Delta variant may have killed the dream of herd immunity.“Anyone still unvaccinated, at some point, will meet the virus,” Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group and one of the developers of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine said.
 * 06 Aug 2021, Reuters.com, Early signs covid-19 vaccines may not stop Delta transmission, England says
 * 28 Jul 2021, Politico.eu, Covid-19 in Europe: Here we go again, With the Delta variant spreading across the Continent, now is the time to act if we want to head off the next wave of infections.
 * 23 Jul 2021, Politico.eu, Most vaccines offer protection against Delta variant with just 1 dose: Study, The study compared the efficacy of the BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs against several variants of concern.
 * 08 Jul 2021, (fr) LesEchos.fr, Le variant Delta rebat les cartes de la pandémie, Depuis deux mois, l'épidémie est repartie à la hausse dans une quinzaine de pays. Même si les services d'urgences ne sont débordés que là où la population est peu vaccinée, l'Europe s'inquiète.
 * 03 Jul 2021, Economist.com, The unvaccinated are at risk as evolution accelerates the covid-19 pandemic, Research is unravelling the virus’s deep secrets
 * 28 Jun 2021, CDC.gov, About variants of the virus that causes covid-19​​
 * 24 Jun 2021, EuroNews.com, Delta variant to account for 90% of new covid-19 cases in Europe by late August, warns EU agency
 * 18 Jun 2021, BrusselsTimes.com, Delta variant ‘could become dominant’ in Belgium, Van Gucht warns, The Delta variant of the coronavirus, previously known as the Indian variant, could become a dominant strain in Belgium in the coming weeks, virologist Steven Van Gucht warned during a Crisis Centre press conference on Friday. The strain now accounts for 6.1% of all new cases in Belgium, in comparison with 3.9% last week.
 * 14 Jun 2021, Politico.eu, Delta coronavirus variant doubles risk of hospitalization: Scottish study, The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine provided 79 percent protection against infection from the Delta variant, compared with 92 percent against the Alpha variant.
 * 11 Jun 2021, TheEconomist.com, Why coronavirus variants are named using the Greek alphabet, It is simpler, and less contentious, than the technical or colloquial appellations
 * 01 Jun 2021, Reuters.com, Is it all Greek to you? Coronavirus variants get new names
 * 01 Jun 2021 (fr) FranceInfo.tv, Covid-19 : l'OMS renomme les variants avec des noms de lettres grecques, L'objectif est de donner aux variants des noms "faciles à prononcer et à retenir", mais aussi d'éviter de "stigmatiser" les pays où ils ont été identifiés, explique l'Organisation mondiale de la santé.
 * 26 May 2021, Politico.eu, What we know so far about the Indian coronavirus variant in the UK, Researchers are working to gauge how transmissable the new variant is, and how effective vaccines are against it.
 * 12 May 2021, Politico.eu, EU regulator ‘confident’ vaccines work against Indian coronavirus variant, The EMA also expects the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson jabs to be effective
 * 22 Apr 2021 (fr) FranceInfo.tv, Variant du Covid-19 détecté en Inde : 20 étudiants testés positifs en Belgique, après être passés par l'aéroport de Roissy, Ils ont été placés en quarantaine dans les villes flamandes d'Alost et de Louvain, où ils étaient arrivés à la mi-avril pour suivre une formation en soins infirmiers.
 * 17 Apr 2021, ITV.com, Indian Covid variant could ‘scupper’ roadmap out of lockdown, scientist warns
 * 13 Apr 2021, LiveScience.com, UK coronavirus variant not more deadly, just spreads more easily, studies find, Two new studies find that the U.K. variant does not appear to cause more severe illness or death