A New Year, Newfangled COVID-19 Variant B.1.640.2 (IHU): What We Know So Far?

ABSTRACT

A new year has arrived, and with it comes a new COVID-19 variation that no one requires right now. Just as we were getting to grips with Omicron, which was initially found in November of last year, another strain discovered in France has made the news. On January 4, 2022, news of the variant exploded on social media, but cases of what is now known as variant B.1.640.2 (IHU) were initially discovered about two months prior. Evidence is still being gathered, but internet misinformation regarding the latest coronavirus variety is already rampant, as it was with Omicron. The majority of existing vaccines target SARS-spike CoV-2's protein, which the virus utilizes to enter and infect cells. Epidemiologists and virologists worldwide are concerned about the virus' spike protein, which plays a key role in how your body identifies and reacts to the virus. Spike proteins are produced, recognized, and defended against by our immune system. When the amino acids in a protein are changed or removed, it becomes far more difficult for your body - and the vaccines you've had injected into your system - to defend against and fight the virus.