First
identified: United Kingdom
Spread: Spreads much faster than other variants
Severe illness
and death: May potentially cause more people to get
sicker and to die
Vaccine: Currently authorized
vaccines do work against this variant. Some breakthrough
infections in fully vaccinated people are expected but remain
rare. All vaccines are particularly effective against severe illness, hospitalization, and
death.
Treatments: Treatments are effective against this variant
Beta - B.1.351
First identified: South Africa
Spread: May
spread faster than other variants
Severe illness and death: Current data do not indicate more severe illness or
death than other variants
Vaccine: Currently authorized
vaccines do work against this variant. Some breakthrough
infections are expected, but remain rare. All vaccines are particularly
effective against severe illness, hospitalization and death.
Treatments: Certain
monoclonal antibody treatments are less effective against this variant
Gamma - P.1
First identified: Japan/Brazil
Spread: Spreads faster
than other variants
Severe illness and death: Current data do not indicate more severe illness or death than
other variants
Vaccine: Currently authorized
vaccines do work against this
variant. Some breakthrough infections are expected, but remain
rare. All vaccines are particularly effective against severe
illness, hospitalization and death.
Treatments: Certain
monoclonal antibody treatments are less effective against this variant
Delta - B.1.617.2
First identified: India
Spread: Spreads
much faster than other variants
Severe illness and death: May cause more severe cases than the other variants
Vaccine: Infections
happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with
the Delta variant. Some breakthrough
infections are expected, but remain rare. However, preliminary evidence
suggests that fully vaccinated people who do become infected with the Delta
variant can spread the virus to others. Learn more here. All vaccines
are particularly effective against severe illness, hospitalization and death.
Treatments: Certain
monoclonal antibody treatments are less effective against this variant
The lambda variant was
In June, the
“Lambda carries a number of mutations with suspected phenotypic implications, such as a potential increased transmissibility or possible increased resistance to neutralizing antibodies,” the WHO wrote in its
These mutations suggest the variant might spread faster or evade protection offered by COVID-19 vaccines.
Variants of interest may also cause significant transmission in the community or multiple clusters of COVID-19 cases.
“Lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased COVID-19 incidence,” the WHO wrote in its June 15 update.
This has occurred in South America, which is a coronavirus hot spot, with explosive growth in cases and very few people vaccinated due to a shortage of vaccine doses.
Countries there have also seen a rapid spread of lambda.
In December, the lambda variant accounted for 1 in 200 coronavirus samples tested in Peru, according to Financial Times. By March, it accounted for 50 percent of samples in Lima, the country’s capital. Now it is at 82 percent.
Lambda is now in 31 countries, according to data from GISAID, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
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