Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
On February 11th, 2020, the United Nations – World Health Organization [UN-WHO] named the coronavirus disease with emerging pandemic proportions, as well as the virus identified as the cause, respectively Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV2) (UN-WHO [1]).
On May 31st, 2021, the UN-WHO assigned Greek letters to designate SARS CoV2 variants of interest (VoI) and variants of concern (VoC) (UN-WHO [3]). The new WHO labels are intended primarily for non-scientific, policy-making and public use, offering quick, and easy-to-pronounce designations, in a deliberate move to avoid both confusion and stigmatization whether geographical or political. Thus, what was previously referred to as the UK mutation (outside of scientific research), became designated the Alpha variant. Likewise, the previously designated South African, Brazilian and Indian mutations became respectively designated by the Greek letters: Beta, Gamma and Delta.
The two tables reproduced below, for SARS CoV2 Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest, extracted from UN-WHO tracking of the SARS CoV2 variants, show the scientific names, derived from the use of three different platforms for genetic sequencing, phylogenetic tree visualization and data sharing: GISAID [1], NextStrain [2] and PANGO [3], together with the new simplified WHO label nomenclature, and date on which the variants were first documented with samples.
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| UN-WHO - SARS CoV2 variants of concern (VoC) [updated June 15, 2021] |
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| UN-WHO - SARS CoV2 variants of Interest (VoI) [updated June 15, 2021] |
The UN-WHO announcement of new labels for SARS CoV2 VoI and VoC clearly states that the Greek lettering does not replace the scientific nomenclatures, derived from use of the various sequencing, and phylogenetic tree visualization and data-sharing platforms, considering the significant information conveyed in the scientific designations (UN-WHO [3]). By contrast, the Greek lettering certainly makes it far easier and less confusing, for the layperson, to refer to Alpha or Beta variants vs. the Pango B.1.1.7 or B.1.351 variants. However, even if language use is known to flow diachronically in the direction of ease and simplicity, it is far less obvious that the new designations of the SARS CoV2 VoI and VoC will flow in abstraction of their geographic locations and origins, outside of scientific research, considering just how important location and origin are to prevention measures and saving lives. Recent articles of the press have already widely adopted the Greek lettering labels, but not by a stretch without origin or location. Most recently, for example, a new, worrisome, Delta variant, has been designated Delta Plus India (Biswas, June 23, 2021, for BBC News).
The new UN-WHO Greek letter nomenclature for SARS COV2 VoC and VoI overtly seeks to prevent the stigma and potential discrimination of origin and location, which is an undeniably important first line of defense. However, It might take a lot longer, if ever, for the Greek letter designations to acquire meaning, independently of origin and location, assuming also that the pandemic will follow a somewhat predictable course, in 2021, and beyond.
References
Biswas, S. (June 23, 2021). Delta plus India: Scientists say too early to tell risk of Covid-19 variant. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57564560
[1] GISAID https://www.gisaid.org/about-us/mission/
[2] NEXTSTRAIN https://nextstrain.org/
[3] PANGO Lineages https://cov-lineages.org/pangolin.html
[1] UN-WHO (Feb. 11, 2020). Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID 19) and the virus that causes it. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it
[2] UN –WHO – An Update on SARS CoV2 mutations & variants [Jan. 25, 2021 updated]. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/risk-comms-updates/update47-sars-cov-2-variants.pdf?sfvrsn=f2180835_4
[3] UN- WHO (May 31, 2021). WHO announces simple, easy-to-say labels for SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest and concern. https://www.who.int/news/item/31-05-2021-who-announces-simple-easy-to-say-labels-for-sars-cov-2-variants-of-interest-and-concern
[4] UN-WHO Tracking SARS CoV2 variants. https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/ [Updated June 15, 2021]
Winter, L. (June 1, 2021) WHO updates the nomenclature of SARS-CoV2 variants. The Scientist. https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/who-updates-the-nomenclature-of-sars-cov-2-variants-68837
