Naming Covid variants after places can lead to stigma – WHO - Kidderminster Shuttle

Experts working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) are developing new names for variants – which are often colloquially named after the places where they are first detected.

Many variants of Sars-CoV-2 – the virus which causes Covid-19 – have been identified around the world.

The WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, said that the body was working on a nomenclature – the devising or choosing of names for things – for virus variants.

“So it is really important that we do have names of these virus variants.

“Right now what we’re using is: the B.1.1.7 – the virus variant first identified in the United Kingdom; the B.1.351 – the virus variant that was first identified in South Africa; and the P1, which is the virus variant that was first detected in Japan, but is circulating in Brazil.

Published On: Tue, 06 Apr 2021 17:52:41 GMT