WHO is Changing Names of Coronavirus Variants of Concern to Stop Discrimination

When COVID-19 first broke out more than a year ago, everyone was calling it the “Wuhan virus”.

Even worse, some just called it the “China virus”. And by that, I mean the “true” US President, of course.

At that time, there were many who pointed out how stigmatising either of these names were.

Still, it wasn’t until the World Health Organisation (WHO) released the official name “COVID-19” that people slowly stopped calling the virus “Wuhan virus” or “China virus”.

Now, much like the situation before, WHO is changing the names of the COVID-19 variants of concern in order to prevent discrimination.

WHO Switching to Greek Alphabet For New Names

On Monday (31 May), WHO announced a new naming system for the COVID-19 variants: they are now to be known by letters of the Greek alphabet.

The new system applies to both variants of concern (VOCs) and the second-level variants of interests (VOIs) that are being tracked.

However, this does not mean that the current scientific names of these variants will be changed. Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, said, “They will not replace existing scientific names, but are aimed to help in public discussion.”

So basically, it’s just getting a second name.

According to WHO, the introduction of the new system is meant to avoid stigmatising nations where the variants were first detected.

So What Are the Variants Called Now?

Under the new system, the B117 variant, unfortunately known by many as “the UK strain”, now takes on the name of Alpha.

The B1351 variant that was first detected in South Africa is now known as Beta under the new naming system. Meanwhile, the variant that was first discovered in Brazil, the P1 variant, now becomes Gamma.

First discovered in India, the B1617 variant is split into two sub-lineages—one a VOC and the other a VOI. The first sub-lineage, the infamous B16172 VOC, is now known as Delta.

The second sub-lineage, the B16171 VOI is called Kappa.

Other Greek letters have already been assigned to other VOIs, including: Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta and Iota.

Currently, there is no plan on what to use next if the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet are exhausted. Let’s hope that we won’t have to consider that possibility.

Besides the names from the Greek alphabet, each mutation has two other scientific names in use, while different geographic names have also been used to describe the same variant.

For example, within Britain, the B117 variant—also now known as Alpha—is often called the Kent variant. The name originates from the county in southeast England where the variant was first discovered.

Within scientific circles, the scientific names of the variants will still continue to be used, for the mutation information that the names convey.

Avoiding Stigmatisation & Discrimination 

According to The Straits Times, WHO has been trying to come up with a simplified new naming system for the COVID-19 variants for several months.

In a statement released by WHO, the organisation said that, “While they have their advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to say and recall, and are prone to misreporting.”

I have to say, the new naming system is much more easier on the brain compared to the scientific names. Imagine reciting a whole string of letters and numbers each time you want to discuss a variant—couldn’t be me. 

“As a result, people often resort to calling variants by the places where they are detected, which is stigmatising and discriminatory,” continued WHO. “To avoid this and to simplify public communications, WHO encourages national authorities, media outlets and others to adopt these new labels,” added WHO.

According to US anti-extremism groups, the number of attacks and hate crimes against Asian Americans has exploded since the start of the pandemic.

They attribute part of the blame to former US President Donald Trump—many of you might remember him repeatedly referring to COVID-19 as the “China virus”, or “Chinese virus”, even after the official name COVID-19 was announced.

Earlier this month, in response to the surge in hate crimes on Asians, current US President Joe Biden signed a hate crimes law aimed at protecting Asian Americans who have been a victim of these crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feature Image: askarim / Shutterstock.com