Table 1.
List of major SARS-CoV-2 variants (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.b; O’Toole et al., 2021; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2024).
| WHO label | Pango lineage | Date first detected | Country first detected | Current status* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | B.1.1.7 | Sep 2020 | United Kingdom | VBM |
| Beta | B.1.351 | Sep 2020 | South Africa | VBM |
| Gamma | P.1 | Dec 2020 | Brazil | VBM |
| Delta | B.1.617.2 | Dec 2020 | India | VBM |
| Epsilon | B.1.427/B.1.429 | Sep 2020 | USA | VBM |
| Zeta | P.2 | Jan 2021 | Brazil | VBM |
| Eta | B.1.525 | Dec 2020 | Nigeria | VBM |
| Theta | P.3 | Jan 2021 | The Philippines | VBM |
| Iota | B.1.526 | Dec 2020 | USA | VBM |
| Kappa | B.1.617.1 | Dec 2020 | India | VBM |
| Lambda | C.37 | Dec 2020 | Peru | VBM |
| Mu | B.1.621 | Jan 2021 | Colombia | VBM |
| Omicron | B.1.1.529 | N/A | N/A | VBM |
| Omicron | BA.1 | Nov 2021 | South Africa, Botswana | VBM |
| Omicron | BA.2.86 | N/A | N/A | VOI |
| Omicron | XBB | N/A | N/A | VBM |
| Omicron | XBB.1.5 | N/A | N/A | VOI |
| Omicron | XBB.1.16 | N/A | N/A | VBM |
*VOC, Variant of Concern; VOI, Variant of Interest; VBM, Variant Being Monitored. N/A, not available.