Several variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were identified in 2020 including the United Kingdom variant (known as 20I/501Y.V1, VOC 202012/01, or B.1.1.7), South Africa variant (known as 20H/501Y.V2 or B.1.35), and Brazil variant (known as P.1), with more variants still being discovered. There is concern that these variants, due to mutations in spike protein and receptor-binding domain of the spike protein, can be more infectious, lethal, and potentially escape the immune responses from vaccination or prior infection. Research is needed to understand the risks associated with currently known variants of SARS-CoV-2 as well as investigate if there is potential for new mutations to form that would allow SARS-CoV-2 variants to partially or entirely escape the immune mechanisms developed from vaccination and/or prior infection from the wild-type strain of SARS-CoV-2.
