COVID-19 Variants

For the variants in the table below, clear evidence is available indicating a significant impact on transmissibility, severity and/or immunity that is likely to have an impact on the epidemiological situation in the EU/EEA. The combined genomic, epidemiological, and in-vitro evidence for these properties invokes at least moderate confidence. In addition, all the criteria for variants of interest and under monitoring outlined below apply. label Lineage + additional mutations Country first detected (community) Spike mutations of interest Year and month first detected Evidence for impact on transmissibility Evidence for impact on immunity Evidence for impact on severity Date of decision Transmission in EU/EEA Beta B.1.351 South Africa K417N, E484K, N501Y, D614G, A701V September 2020 Yes (v) (1) Yes (v) (1, 2) Yes (v) (3, 4) 2020-12-29 Community Gamma P.1 Brazil K417T, E484K, N501Y, D614G, H655Y December 2020 Yes (v) (5) Yes (v) (6) Yes (v) (4) 2020-12-29 Community Delta B.1.617.2 India L452R, T478K, D614G, P681R December 2020 Yes (v) (7) Yes (v) (8-10) Yes (v) (9, 11) 2021-05-24 Dominant All sub-lineages of the listed lineages are also included in the variant, e.g., AY.1 is included in Delta as it is a sub-lineage of B.1.617.2.

Variants of interest (VOI)

For these variants, evidence is available on genomic properties, epidemiological evidence or in-vitro evidence that could imply a significant impact on transmissibility, severity and/or immunity, realistically having an impact on the epidemiological situation in the EU/EEA. However, the evidence is still preliminary or is associated with major uncertainty. In addition, all the criteria for variants under monitoring outlined below apply.

WHO label Lineage + additional mutations Country first detected (community) Spike mutations of interest Year and month first detected Evidence for impact on transmissibility Evidence for impact on immunity Evidence for impact on severity Date of decision Transmission in EU/EEA n/a B.1.620 Unclear (b) S477N, E484K, D614G, P681H February 2021 Yes (m) (12, 13) 2021-04-22 Outbreaks Mu B.1.621 Colombia R346K, E484K, N501Y, D614G, P681H January 2021 Yes (m) (14) Yes (m) (12) 2021-04-29 Sporadic/Travel Lambda C.37 Peru L452Q, F490S, D614G December 2020 Yes (v) (15, 16) 2021-07-22 Detected (a)

n/a: not applicable, no WHO label has been assigned to this variant at this time

All sub-lineages of the listed lineages are also included in the variant, e.g., C.37.1 is included in Lambda as it is a sub-lineage of C.37.

Variants under monitoring

These additional variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected as signals through epidemic intelligence, rules-based genomic variant screening, or preliminary scientific evidence. There is some indication that they could have properties similar to those of a VOC, but the evidence is weak or has not yet been assessed by ECDC. Variants listed here must be present in at least one outbreak, detected in a community within the EU/EEA, or there must be evidence that there is community transmission of the variant elsewhere in the world.

WHO label Lineage + additional mutations Country first detected (community) Spike mutations of interest Year and month first detected Evidence for impact on transmissibility Evidence for impact on immunity Evidence for impact on severity Date of decision Transmission in EU/EEA n/a C.36+L452R Egypt L452R, D614G, Q677H December 2020 Yes (m) (17) 2021-04-29 Detected (a) n/a AT.1 Russia E484K, D614G, N679K, ins679GIAL January 2021 Yes (m) (12) 2021-04-29 Detected (a) n/a B.1.1.318 Unclear (b) E484K, D614G, P681H January 2021 Yes (m) (12) 2021-04-29 Detected (a) n/a P.1+P681H Italy D614G, E484K, H655Y, K417T, N501Y, P681H February 2021 Unclear (18, 19) 2021-06-03 Detected (a) n/a B.1.617.2 + K417N United Kingdom L452R, T478K, D614G, P681R, K417N June 2021 2021-06-24 Detected (a) n/a C.1.2 South Africa D614G, E484K, H655Y, N501Y, N679K, Y449H June 2021 Yes (m) (14) Yes (m) (12) 2021-07-29 Detected (a) n/a B.1.617.2 + E484Q India L452R, T478K, D614G, P681R, E484Q April 2021 2021-08-26 Detected (a) n/a B.1.617.2 + Q613H India L452R, T478K, D614G, P681R, Q613H April 2021 2021-08-26 Detected (a)

n/a: not applicable, no WHO label has been assigned to this variant at this time

All sub-lineages of the listed lineages are also included in the variant, e.g., AZ.1 is included in B.1.1.318 as it is a sub-lineage of it.

De-escalated variants

These additional variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been de-escalated based on at least one the following criteria: (1) the variant is no longer circulating, (2) the variant has been circulating for a long time without any impact on the overall epidemiological situation, (3) scientific evidence demonstrates that the variant is not associated with any concerning properties.

Alpha

B.1.1.7 United Kingdom N501Y, D614G, P681H September 2020 Yes (v) (14) No Yes (v) (4, 20) VOC: 2020-12-29

De-escalation: 2021-09-03

Drastically reduced circulation in the EU/EEA following the emergence of Delta; little evidence of impact on vaccine induced immunity

n/a

B.1.1.7+E484K United Kingdom E484K, N501Y, D614G, P681H December 2020 Yes (v) (14) Yes (v) (12, 21) Yes (v) (20) VOC: 2021-04-22

De-escalation: 2021-09-03

Very low levels of circulation in the EU/EEA Eta B.1.525 Nigeria E484K, D614G, Q677H December 2020 Yes (m) (12, 22) VOI: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA Theta P.3 The Philippines E484K, N501Y, D614G, P681H January 2021 Yes (m) (14) Yes (m) (12) VOI: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA Kappa B.1.617.1 India L452R, E484Q, D614G, P681R December 2020 Yes (v) (23) Yes (v) (23-26) VOI: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.617.3 India L452R, E484Q, D614G, P681R February 2021 Yes (m) [1] Yes (m) (12, 17) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.214.2 Unclear2 Q414K, N450K, ins214TDR, D614G December 2020 VUM: 2021-04-29 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a A.23.1+E484K United Kingdom V367F, E484K, Q613H December 2020 Yes (m) (12) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a A.27 Unclear (b) L452R, N501Y, A653V, H655Y December 2020 Yes (m) (14) Yes (m) (17) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a A.28 Unclear (b) E484K, N501T, H655Y December 2020 Yes (m) (12) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a C.16 Unclear (b) L452R, D614G October 2020 Yes (m) (12) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.351+P384L South Africa P384L, K417N, E484K, N501Y, D614G, A701V December 2020 Yes (v) (1) Yes (v) (1, 2) Unclear (3) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.351+E516Q Unclear (b) K417N, E484K, N501Y, E516Q, D614G, A701V January 2021 Yes (v) (1) Yes (v) (1, 2) Unclear (3) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.1.7+L452R United Kingdom L452R, N501Y, D614G, P681H January 2021 Yes (v) (14) Yes (m) (17) Yes (v) (20) VUM: 2021-04-22 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.1.7+S494P United Kingdom S494P, N501Y, D614G, P681H January 2021 Yes (v) (14) Yes (m) (28) Yes (v) (20) VUM: 2021-05-06 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA Iota B.1.526 USA E484K, D614G, A701V December 2020 Yes (m) (12) VUM: 2021-04-29 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.526.1 USA L452R, D614G October 2020 Yes (m) (17) VUM: 2021-04-29 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 Lineage withdrawn from Pango n/a B.1.526.2 USA S477N, D614G December 2020 VUM: 2021-04-29 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 Lineage withdrawn from Pango Zeta P.2 Brazil E484K, D614G January 2021 Yes (m) (12) VUM: 2021-04-29 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a B.1.1.519 Mexico T478K, D614G November 2020 Yes (m) (17) VUM: 2021-05-20 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA n/a AV.1 United Kingdom N439K, E484K, D614G, P681H March 2021 Yes (m) (12) VUM: 2021-05-21 De-escalation: 2021-09-03 No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA Epsilon B.1.427/B.1.429 USA L452R, D614G September 2020 Unclear (17) Yes (v) (17) VOI: 2021-04-22

De-escalation: 2021-07-22

No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels in the EU/EEA and available data indicating that vaccines and treatments are effective against such variant n/a B.1.616(c) France V483A, D614G, H655Y, G669S February 2021 Detection (c) (29) VOI: 2021-04-22

De-escalation: 2021-07-22

Not detected since 2021-04-23 (30)

n/a: not applicable, no WHO label has been assigned to this variant at this time

All sub-lineages of the listed lineages are also included in the variant, e.g., B.1.429.1 is included in B.1.427/B.1.429 as it is a sub-lineage of B.1.429.

(a) No assessment of transmission is given for variants in the monitoring category, only detected/not detected.

(b) The earliest detections from several different countries are close in time and there is no clearly demonstrated travel link to a specific country that explains the detections.

(c) The property of concern for this variant was the fact that there are reports of difficulties associated with detecting it in upper respiratory tract samples. These difficulties were not caused by primer-template mismatch but rather by the virus not being present in sufficient quantities in the upper respiratory tract.