The<unk>  variant (B.1.1.7) is a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern. It is estimated to be 40–80% more transmissible than the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 (with most estimates occupying the middle to higher end of this range). It was first detected in November 2020 from a sample taken in September in the United Kingdom, and began to spread quickly by mid-December, around the same time as infections surged. This increase is thought to be at least partly because of one or more mutations in the virus' spike protein. The variant is also notable for having more mutations than normally seen. As of January 2021, more than half of all genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 was carried out in the UK. This has given rise to questions as to how many other important variants may be circulating around the world undetected. On 2 February 2021, Public Health England reported that they had detected "a limited number of B.1.1.7 VOC-202012/01 genomes with E484K mutations", which they dubbed Variant of Concern 202102/02 (VOC-202102/02). One of the mutations (N501Y) is also present in Beta variant and Gamma variant. On 31 May 2021, the World Health Organization announced that the Variant of Concern would be labelled<unk> " for use in public communications.
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SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant
SARS-CoV-2 Kappa variant
SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant
SARS-CoV-2 Mu variant
SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant