The names of ancient gods were also reviewed. Simply numbering from 1 was an option, but that would look too much like the scientific name, says Konings. Ultimately, a designation was chosen that relates to a clear series and that is as neutral as possible.
So far there are ten variants that have a name have been assigned. The first four are the so-called ‘variants of concern’. These are variants that have been shown to be more contagious or deadly or, for example, that affect the effectiveness of vaccines. The British variant is now called Alpha by the WHO, the South African variant is called Beta, the Brazilian variant is called Gamma and the Indian variant is called Delta.
This is followed by six ‘variants of interest’ until Kappa. The WHO is monitoring these variants, but it has not yet been proven whether they actually have any consequences for the course of the pandemic, for example because they are more contagious.
Racist comments
Konings: “We are aware that the Greek alphabet only has 24 letters. We are already working on what series we will use next.”
The scientific names will continue to exist and be used by the WHO. The new names are mainly intended for public communication, says Konings: “Naming variants after countries or locations can be stigmatizing.”
Last year, for example, many people of Asian descent, in the Netherlands too, dealing with racist remarks or even violence. That was fueled by US President Trump who referred to the SARS-CoV-2 virus as the Chinese virus or even the “kung flu”.
Spanish and Mexican flu
It is nothing new that viruses and variants are named after areas, whether or not they are popularly known. Just think of the Spanish, Mexican and Hong Kong flu. Or the Ebola virus, named after the river in Africa where the virus was first found.
Only that name does not necessarily have to say anything about the origin. The Spanish flu most likely didn’t start in Spain, but got that name because the Spanish press wrote about the influenza outbreak in 1918. The country was neutral in World War I, but countries that did participate censored the media so as not to demoralize the population. So it seemed like Spain ground zero belonged to the outbreak.
Too much established
Similar coincidences play a role in the discovery of variants of this virus. “They are often discovered in countries that have a lot of sequencenKings says. Sequencen is the mapping of the genetic code of a virus. “But that doesn’t mean that that variant originated there, just that it was discovered there.” The WHO fears that countries are becoming anxious about too much sequencen if there is the adverse effect of a variant being named after your country.
The only question is whether a new system still makes sense. Are the names of the existing variants not too well established? Konings: “It will no longer be possible to adjust afterwards, but we will now use this in all our public communication. And hopefully the media too.”
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