WHO Names Variants Of Coronavirus With Greek Alphabet In Order To Avoid Negative Stigma

Illustration of COVID-19. (Prasesh Shiwakoti/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) decided to name the current variant of the coronavirus using the Greek alphabet with a number of goals to achieve.

In addition to simplifying discussion and pronunciation, this name change is to avoid certain stigma against certain countries that are associated with variants of the coronavirus.

This change is also in line with criticism of scientists for giving complicated and multiple names to variants of the coronavirus. For example, the South African variant which have multiple names, such as B.1.351, 501Y.V2, and 20H/501Y.V2 are too complex.

Cited from Reuters on Tuesday, June 1, in its announcement last Monday, WHO named the variants of the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and India as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta according to the order.

Another interesting variant continues down the alphabet.

"While they have their merits, these scientific names can be difficult to pronounce and remember and are prone to misreporting", the WHO said, explaining the decision.

The choice of the Greek Alphabet comes after months of deliberation, during which other possibilities such as Greek Gods and invented, pseudo-classical names were considered by experts, according to bacteriologist Mark Pallen involved in the talks. But many have become foreign brands, companies, or names.

Another idea to refer to the variants of concern as VOC1, VOC2 and others, was dropped after showing that the pronunciation resembles a swear word in English.

Historically, viruses have often been associated with the location from which they are thought to have emerged, such as Ebola, which is named after a river in the Congo. However, variants of the coronavirus can spoil places and are often inaccurate, such as the so-called 'Spanish flu' pandemic of 1918 whose origins are unknown.

"No country should be stigmatized to detect and report variants", said WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.

Prior to the new WHO scheme, some scientists had adopted their own simplified nomenclature for coronavirus variants such as the February paper using bird names. However, it was criticized on the grounds, it could harm the birds and the mother of a girl named 'Robin'.

"We're not saying that we're replacing B1.1.7, but really just to try to help some dialogue with the average person. So that in public discourse, we can discuss some of those variants in easier-to-use language", Van Kerkhove said.

Today, @WHO announces new, easy-to-say labels for #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs)

They will not replace existing scientific names, but are time to help in public discussion of VOI/VOC

Read more here (will be live soon): https://t.co/VNvjJn8Xcv#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/L9YOfxmKW7

— Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) May 31, 2021