None of the coronavirus variants that are known to be circulating in the United States are classified as "variants of high consequence" or currently near that level, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"At this time, none of the known SARS-CoV-2 variants rise to the level of high consequence, and none are close to that threshold," CDC spokesperson Jade Fulce told CNN in an email on Monday. SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes Covid-19.
The CDC classifies coronavirus variants by three levels: variant of interest, variant of concern, or variant of high consequence. The B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, B.1.427 and B.1.429 variants circulating in the United States are currently classified as variants of concern.
A variant of high consequence "is included in the new classification system so that health officials can be prepared to respond appropriately in the event that a SARS-CoV-2 variant crosses that threshold," Fulce said.
To be classified as a "variant of high consequence," a variant of concern would need to show evidence that it causes more severe disease and hospitalizations, vaccine effectiveness may be reduced against it, or it has significantly reduced susceptibility to therapeutics, among other factors, according to the CDC.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned in a White House briefing on Monday that the variants are still concerning – and she urged people to keep following Covid-19 mitigation measures.
"The continued relaxation of prevention measures while cases are still high and while concerning variants are spreading rapidly throughout the United States is a serious threat to the progress we have made as a nation," Walensky said.
"Increasingly, states are seeing a growing proportion of their Covid-19 cases attributed to variants," Walensky said. "I am worried that if we don't take the right actions now, we will have another avoidable surge."
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