Some variants of the coronavirus appear and disappear during the pandemic, other variants are more successful, persist and spread in the population.

So far, several significant variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been documented worldwide since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. In May 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that the Greek alphabet be used to name the different variants of the coronavirus, in the order in which individual mutations were detected. For example, Alpha, originally a British variant, called B.1.1.7, was identified in the United Kingdom (UK) in September 2020, Beta, originally a South African variant, called B.1.351 appeared in South Africa independently of B.1.1.7 . in September 2020, Gamma, originally a Brazilian variant, called P.1, appeared in December 2020 in Brazil, Delta, originally an Indian variant, called B.1.617.2, was first identified in December 2020 and showed increased infectivity, Omikron, called B.1.1.529, was identified at the beginning of November 2021. This variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus belonging to the Pango lineage B.1.1.529 is characterized by a high number of mutations in the S-gene compared to the original virus. The “Centaurus” variant (“Centaur”, which is only a working name) called BA.2.75 is a sub-variant of Omicron and was first captured in May 2022 in India. The Centaur variant has some structural and genetic changes in the spike protein. We don’t yet know if it will bypass our immune defenses or cause serious illness.