The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is now monitoring a new COVID-19 variant first detected in Colombia known as ‘Mu’.
The variant was first discovered in January.
The WHO said that Mu, known scientifically as B.1.621, has been classified as a “variant of interest.
Further studies were needed to better understand it, but the variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines, according to the WHO.
“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape,” the WHO said.
Experts have raised concerns over the emergence of new variants amid the threat of the Delta variant and with a high number of people still unvaccinated.
