SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Mutations, Variants, and Vaccines
COVID-19 is still dominating media headlines, and for good reason. Several vaccines have been granted Emergency Use Authorization, but new case and death rates have reached record highs in the U.S. recently. One update is drawing immense attention, concern, and confusion — new variants of COVID-19 have recently emerged. Strain, variant, or mutation? SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is a strain of the coronavirus family. So there aren’t new strains of SARS-CoV-2, but there are new variants (a.k.a. ‘variant strains’). Variants develop from mutations, or changes, to … Read more