SARS-CoV-2 Variants Of Concern And Their Properties

Since its first detection in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in the morbibidity of 174 million and mortality of 3.74 million people. As a typical Ribonucleic acid virus, SARS-CoV-2 undergoes genomic changes during its replication to maintain its evolutionary adaptation. Continous mutation has led into the emergence of numerous variants. Currently, the variants distinguished as the ‘Variants of Concern’ are the B.1.1.7 lineage (The United Kingdom variant) , B.1.351 (The South African variant), B.1.1.248/B1.1.28/P1(Brazilian Variant) , B.1.427/B.1.429 lineage (The Californian variant) and B.1.617.2 lineage (Indian variant). These variants impose a huge concern due to their properties of higher transmission and evasion of the immune system. The continuous emergence of such variants can be contained by vaccinating the population to reduce the circulation of the virus and by maintaining the major protective measures against the disease