What to Know About New Coronavirus Variants, According to Doctors

Prevention featured Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in an article about whether people should be worried about COVID-19 variants. Viruses mutate when they replicate their RNA, or genetic makeup, in a host’s cells. This is actually part of the pathogen’s life cycle and helps it survive, explains Russo. When the mutations stick around and spread, they lead to a variant of the virus. Again, this isn’t unique to the novel coronavirus. “Mutations occur all the time with viruses at different rates and frequencies,” Russo said.