List of variants
List of variants#
(last updated 06.06.2022) This is a list of the main variants of the SARS-CoV2 virus. It does not include all types and it might change frequently. However it helps to translate the Pango lineage to WHO names and ‘street’ names.
| Pango lineage | Street name | WHO name | Letter | Year/months first detected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.1.1.7 | British | Alpha | α | September 2020 |
| B.1.351 | South Africa | Beta | β | September 2020 |
| P.1 (B.1.1.28) | Brasil | Gamma | γ | December 2020 |
| B.1.617.2 | India | Delta | δ | December 2020 |
| B.1.427 / B.1.429 | USA / California | Epsilon | ε | September 2020 |
| P.2 | Brasil | Zeta | ζ | January 2021 |
| B.1.525 | British / Nigeria | Eta | η | December 2020 |
| P.3 | Philippines | Theta | θ | January 2021 |
| B.1.526 / B.1.526.1 | USA | Iota | ι | October-December 2020 |
| B.1.617.1 / B.1.620 | India / Unclear | Kappa | κ | December 2020 |
| C.37 | Peru | Lambda | λ | December 2020 |
| B.1.621 | Columbia | Mu | μ | January 2021 |
| Nu | ν | |||
| Xi | ξ | |||
| B.1.1.529 | South Africa | Omicron | ο | November 2021 |
| BA.1 | South Africa | Omicron | ο | November 2021 |
| BA.2 | South Africa | Omicron | ο | November 2021 |
| BA.3 | South Africa | Omicron | ο | November 2021 |
| BA.4 | South Africa | Omicron | ο | January 2022 |
| BA.5 | South Africa | Omicron | ο | February 2022 |
| BA.2.12.1 | South Africa /USA | Omicron | ο | February 2022 |
| Pi | π | |||
| Rho | ρ | |||
| Sigma | σ | |||
| Tau | τ | |||
| Upsilon | υ | |||
| Phi | φ | |||
| Chi | χ | |||
| Psi | ψ | |||
| Omega | ω |
Visualization of variants#
There are two interesting visualizations of different Covid-19 variants. First of all there is a visualization showing the distance between different variants. Eric Topol published this image on Twitter:
It shows the distances between the different variants from each other and the wild type in the center of the graph. Obviously SARS-COV2 is developing in different directions and Omnicron is bringing it further away from the wild type. That is especially a concern as all of he todays vaccines are made for this wild type.
He and Emma Hodcroft of Nextstrain are a great source of information a worth to follow on Twitter (see links).
Beside this the timeline of the distribution of the different variants (shown vertically in the graph for the Netherlands) is interesting:
Obviously BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 are growing their shares recently.
List of variants of concern and interest#
The ECDC provides a list of variants of concern as well as the list of variants of interest. The latter might become a variant of concern after more information have been gathered. You will find the list here.
To get an idea of the geographical distribution og the variants in Europe you can review the following map.