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Title:

Staying Ahead of the Variants: Policy Recommendations to Identify and Manage Current and Future Variants of Concern

Authors:

Kelsey Lane Warmbrod, Rachel West, Matthew Frieman, Dylan George, Elena Martin, Caitlin Rivers

Date posted:

February 16, 2021

Publication type:

Report

Publisher:

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

See also:

View the full report (PDF)

Introduction:

As of February 2021, 3 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern with worrisome characteristics have emerged, each on a different continent. The B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, is substantially more transmissible than previously circulating variants. The B.1.351 and P.1 variants, first identified in South Africa and Brazil, respectively, both exhibit some degree of immune escape. Each of these variants has precipitated resurgences in the communities where they have become dominant. All 3 have already been identified at low levels in the United States. If they gain a foothold, the same resurgences can be expected here.