The World Health Organization classifies the Lineage B.1.617 variant as a "Variant of Concern", becoming the fourth variant to be designated as being of global concern after the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 variants. 2021-05-10
Malta reports four more cases of the 501.V2 variant that originated in South Africa. 2021-04-23
India reports their first four cases of the 501.V2 variant from South Africa and one case of the Lineage P.1 variant from Brazil in people who traveled internationally. 2021-02-16
Washington, D.C. confirms its first cases of the 501.V2 variant from South Africa and the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2. 2021-02-11
South Africa suspends its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZenenca vaccine after research finds that the vaccine is less effective against the 501.V2 variant discovered in the country. 2021-02-7
Portugal also reports their first case of the 501.V2 variant that originated in South Africa. They do not indicate whether the individual travelled. 2021-01-22
Vaccine developer Pfizer announces that lab studies have concluded that the joint Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine remains effective against mutation variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including Variant of Concern 202012-01 and the 501.V2 variant. 2021-01-8
Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan announces that three cases of the South African variant of SARS-CoV-2 named 501.V2 variant have been detected in Ireland. All of the people had travelled to South Africa. 2021-01-8