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World Health Organization declares B.1.617, first identified in India, the fourth variant of concern At their Monday COVID-19 press brief, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the highly contagious variant first identified in India, classified as B.1.617, as a variant of concern, meaning that it is now considered a global health threat. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for the COVID-19 pandemic, explained, “In our consultation with our virus evolution working group, our epidemiology teams, and our lab teams internally, there is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility of B.1.617.” She added that this variant could also reduce neutralization from antibodies, implying it has the ability to evade immunity to some degree, one of the key reasons it was classified as a variant of concern. The designation is used for those mutations that have been demonstrated to be more contagious, deadly or resistant to the COVID-19 vaccines current ....