Researchers at the Vita Laboratories in Helsinki have discovered a new coronavirus variant dubbed Fin-796H, which displayed mutations formerly discovered in the British and South African in a “unique” combination.
The “newly-discovered variant differs from expectations in that it does not genetically resemble any other known variant,” according to Petri Auvinen, the research director of Helsinki University’s Institute of Biotechnology.
For the moment, the researchers are calling for calm, noting that while such a discovery would have been a matter of time, no evidence currently suggests that the variant could be more transmittable or more resistant to vaccination.