How Many COVID-19 Variants Are There?

Women’s Health reports on the different strains of COVID-19 that are emerging, and quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “Most of these mutations have no functional consequence — it doesn’t change the virus’ properties or how serious a disease it causes,” he says. But, in some situations, a series of mutations can spread and create what’s known as a variant of the original virus. The story was picked up by other media.