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We are aware updates are happening all the time and confirm this article was written on 23 December 2020 with all the latest evidence-based information available at the time.

If there is one thing that we have all read about this week it’s the new Covid-19 variant. Named ‘Super-covid’, there is no doubt that the strain has caused a new wave of corona-related media hysteria. To make sure you rest easy over the Christmas period, we have compiled the key scientific facts about the coronavirus variant.

Virologists are calling the mutated strain VUI-202012/01. Remembering the not-so-catchy name might be a challenge but understanding the reasoning behind it comes in handy. It stands for: the first ‘Variant Under Investigation’ in December 2020. 

This separates the strain from the numerous other coronavirus variations that have occurred since it’s outbreak earlier this year. For example, the A222V variation that originated in Spain and caused a spike in virus transmission across Europe and the D614G mutation which is now the most common strain of global coronavirus.