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The naming of variants of SARS-CoV-2 has been a bit slapdash. Different databases that share the sequences of the virus have different nomenclature norms. For instance, the variant that emerged in the United Kingdom is called B.1.1.7 on the Pango platform, but is called 20I/S:501Y.V1 on Nextstrain. Yesterday (May 31), the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest (VOI) and variants of concern (VOC) will be named based on the Greek alphabet for purposes of public discourse.
As B.1.1.7 was the first VOC designated by WHO, it is called Alpha under the new naming system. B.1.351, which originated in Brazil, is now called Beta. The two other VOCs are P.1, the variant first identified in Brazil and now referred to as Gamma, and B.1.617.2 that originated in India, now called Delta. The six VOIs designated by WHO take up Epsilon through Kappa in ...
