COVID-19 variant making headlines in the United States is not circulating in Canada, nor is likely to overtake the dominant Delta strain.Recently, stories in American news outlets about the R.1 variant have emerged, questioning its mutation and the potential threat it poses.
Specifically, the strain is getting attention in California, but the Los Angeles Times has reported the mutation has “died out already.” Here are the COVID-19 variants scientists are watching alongside Delta The R.1 variant was concerning because it has a few mutations that might avoid anti-body responses, said Andy Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States.“At the time, though, that was just before Alpha in the U.S..