Covid, from Alpha to Delta, guide to the variants of the virus: what we know so far

No longer English, but Alpha. No more Indian, now we talk about Delta. Since early June, the WHO has decided to abolish the geographical nomenclatures for variants of Sars-Cov-2, to avoid names “which can be difficult to pronounce, complex to remember, and a source of stigma for entire populations”.

The variants are now identified with the letters of the Greek alphabet, but this does not stop worrying scientists and health institutions, due to the risk that they will prove to be more serious, lethal or contagious than the virus of the first waves of the pandemic, or that the mutations that occurred in the viral genome make them more resistant to vaccines.