The World Health Organization (WHO) has now classified a coronavirus variant first documented in Colombia in January as a “variant of interest.”
The “Mu” variant—officially named B.1.621—was designated a “variant of interest” on Tuesday. It joins the previously designated variants of interest Eta, Iota, Kappa, and Lambda. According to WHO, Mu received the designation because it has “some mutations that need to be studied for their potential impact on the body’s immune response.”
Additionally, data shared with the WHO Virus Evolution Working Group indicated that “immunity developed through prior infection or vaccination may not be as strong against this variant.” However, more studies are needed to verify this.
WHO added that circulation of this variant has been on the decline worldwide, though its pervasiveness in Colombia and Ecuador has been increasing as of late. Moving forward, WHO told Complex, the variant’s epidemiological evolution will be closely monitored. Studies, as mentioned above, will also be carried out.
Also swerving into the variant-focused news cycle this week is the C.1.2 variant, which received attention from researchers in South Africa in a recently released study that has not yet been peer-reviewed.
While it’s understandable to be filled with dread upon word of anything variant-related, especially if living in an undervaccinated part of the U.S. or elsewhere, health officials aren’t yet concerned with C.1.2.
“Delta is a real problem right now, so that’s much more concerning to me,” Dr. Daniel Rhoads, the section head of microbiology at the Cleveland Clinic, told USA Today’s Adrianna Rodriguez on Wednesday.
Colliding with Delta concerns in the U.S. at the moment is the fact that a number of regions have failed to achieve strong vaccination rates, a maddeningly unfortunate reality made all the more disconcerting by the actions of a slew of Republican officials.
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