What is a viral variant?Viral variants are new versions of a virus that arise as a result of small changes in its genetic code.
Over the course of the pandemic, there have been several variants. Those that proved able to spread more efficiently have become more prevalent, while others fizzle out. “It’s just like natural selection, like evolution," said Bettie Steinberg, a virologist and provost at Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.Why the concern about these particular variants?Preliminary data from U.K researchers suggests that infection with the U.K.
variant could cause more severe disease and potentially lead to more deaths. The data showed that patients infected with the variant had a higher risk of death than.