Coronavirus Variants Greek Alphabet Naming Scheme by WHO

Virus Variants

All viruses evolve over time by replicating or making copies of themselves. Sometimes it changes a little bit and these changes are called “mutations” which is normal for a virus. A virus with one or more new mutations is referred to as a “variant” of the original virus. SARS-CoV-2 also mutate and change naturally as they spread through populations resulting in a number of variants. Most variants of SARS-CoV-2 are harmless and have little impact, but few variants result in the evolution of the virus with different properties than the original one.

Scientific Naming of Variants

The scientific nomenclature systems for naming and tracking SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants have been established by GISAID, Nextstrain, and Pango. Currently, scientists and scholars use this nomenclature in scientific research and they will remain using the scientific name of coronavirus variants as these convey important scientific information. For example, the Pango lineage system named the early VOC found in the UK as B.1.1.7; South Africa as B.1.351; Brazil as P.1; India as B.1.617.2, etc.

Need for Greek Labeling of Coronavirus Variants

Besides the established scientific nomenclature system of SARS-CoV-2 variants many media outlets, peoples on social media, as well as some scientists described the same virus by prefixing geographical location variant (where the variant first observed). For example, Kent or UK variant, South African Variant, Indian Variant, etc.
Recently, many researchers have also settled on a single lineage-naming system that describes the evolutionary relationships between variants. It is generally believed that the people started labeling the variants with geographical location as the existing scientific names of the variants seem challenging to pronounce & remember by the general audience and media reporters. Countries show disagreement with the naming of variants by using geographical location as it may unfairly places blame on the people in those locations. Even though people may not have any bad intention by labeling the variant with a geographical name but the concern exists as there are many people who may have an agenda to use it for stigmatization. Although the WHO had never officially labeled the variants with geographical location but criticism by some countries show concern over stigmatization which may result in hesitation for detecting and reporting variants.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a naming system for variants of the coronavirus that uses letters of the Greek alphabet. Variants of Interest (VOI) and Varients of Concern (VOC) will be given a name from the Greek alphabet to simplify the public discussion as well as to strip some of the stigmas from the emergence of new variants. Avoiding referring to coronavirus variants by geographical names could also encourage countries to detect and report variants rapidly, which is crucial for managing their spread.
Variants with geographical location can stigmatize countries and their residents, and might even discourage nations from running surveillance for new variants. As robust global surveillance is required for the variants, WHO said that this was not only to simplify discussions but also to help remove some stigma from the names.

Greek Labeling of Variants for General Discussion

In view of public discussions of coronavirus variants, The World Health Organization (WHO) on May 31, 2021, announced a new naming system particularly for the forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with important mutations i.e., the variants of interest (VOI) and variants of concern (VOC). Considering easy-to-pronounce and non-stigmatizing labels for VOI and VOC, WHO has recommended using labeled letters of the Greek Alphabet, i.e., Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Kappa, Delta, etc which will be easier and more practical to discuss by non-scientific audiences.

These Greek letters will not replace existing scientific names.

Under the new variant Greek letters labeling scheme, the variant first identified in the UK (B.1.1.7) is labelled “alpha”, the variant identified in South Africa (B.1.351) is “beta”, the variant first identified in Brazil (P.1) is “gamma”, the variant first identified in India (B.1.617.1) is “Kappa” and the variant recently detected in India is (B.1.617.2) “delta”.

Would All Coronavirus Variants be Named with Greek Letters?

No, these Greek letter labels will only be given to “variants of concern” and “variants of interest” as defined by the WHO.

According to the WHO, variants of concern include variants of the coronavirus that have been found to spread more quickly, cause more serious illness, or resist drugs or vaccines. Alpha, beta, gamma, and delta have all been designated as variants of concern to samples that were first documented in the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and India respectively.

Variants of interest are those found to cause community transmission, spread to multiple countries, or that are otherwise assessed as significant by the WHO’s SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution Working Group. Epsilon, Zeta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa have all been designated as variants of concern to samples that were first documented in the USA, Brazil, Philippines, USA, and India respectively.

If all 24 Greek letters get used in labeling and more than 24 variants officially identified, then a new naming scheme may be announced.

Who Intend to Use Greek Labeling?

The new Greek alphabet-based labels are intended to use only for non-scientific purposes which are supposed to be helpful in public discussion e.g., discussion by non-scientific audiences for policymakers, the public, media, and other non-experts. WHO encourages national authorities, media outlets, and others to adopt these new Greek labels for simplifying public communications without creating country-specific stigma.

What Name Researcher Shall Use?

At the present time, WHO has recommended using labeled letters of the Greek Alphabet, i.e., Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc. by non-scientific audiences only to serve as a handy shorthand for policymakers, the public, and other non-experts. These Greek-letter naming schemes are not intended to replace scientific labels. The researchers shall keep using the scientific nomenclature systems for naming and tracking SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants established by GISAID, Nextstrain, and Pango.

The established scientific nomenclature systems for naming and tracking genetic lineages of the coronavirus will remain in use by scientists and in scientific research as these convey important scientific information.
Source: WHO; Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants