What we know so far about the different strains

The Delta variant of the coronavirus remains predominantly the dominant strain in the United States, but the Lambda variant has started to gain attention in recent days.

Like the Delta variant, Lambda is highly contagious and considered to be more resistant to vaccines than the original version of the virus. Although much remains unknown about the strain, some alarming characteristics have been detected by researchers.

Currently, the Lambda variant has mainly spread to South America after being first identified in Peru in August 2020, but cases have been seen in Texas and South Carolina. According to one estimate, fewer than 700 cases of the Lambda variant have been sequenced in the United States out of more than 34 million reported coronavirus cases. However, the United States has only sequenced a small number of its cases, so the actual number of cases associated with the strain may be much higher.

A total of 28 countries have identified Lambda variants in COVID cases, according to GISAID. Scientists say it is closely related to one of the first known variants of the virus, known as the Alpha.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Lambda has the potential to increase transmissibility and may have increased resistance to neutralizing antibodies, two characteristics associated with the Delta variant.

Even still, studies show that vaccines protect against all major strains of coronavirus, including the Delta variant, and researchers believe this is the case with Lambda. As of yet, however, there has not been enough data on the exact effectiveness of current vaccines against the prevention of Lambda infection.

How worried should people be about the Lambda variant? It depends on who you ask. Last month, the WHO classified Lambda as an overall “variant of interest”, which is considered a level just below a “variant of concern.”

The “variants of concern” identified by the organization are the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

The WHO definition for “variant of interest” allows that Lambda has the potential for disease severity and has been identified as causing significant community transmission or multiple clusters of COVID-19 infection.

However, on its own separate list of variants in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not include Lambda as a variant of high interest, concern, or high consequence.

For now, most researchers remain focused on the Delta variant, which recently accounted for 83% of new COVID-19 cases in the United States. of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

WHO is also still monitoring other variants, such as Eta, Kappa and Iota. Any of them could become a threat, especially since earlier this year Iota quickly spread to New York City, making up more than a quarter of streaks in the city in February.

But not everyone is ready to reject the Lambda variant. University of Tokyo lead researcher Kei Sato recently told Reuters that “Lambda may be a potential threat to human society.”