The Rockefeller Foundation Updates Making Sense of Variants: They All Deserve Attention. A Few Merit Concern. Careful Surveillance and Study of Sars-cov-2 Variants Will Help Determine the Public Health Threats They Pose and the Mitigation Efforts They Require SARS-CoV-2 has already mutated since it was first identified and will continue to do so. Robust global genomic sequencing is the best tool for tracking existing variants and detecting new ones. This information enables public health officials, governments, and communities to take action that can save lives. The more high-quality data that is available, the more effective the response. Even as new variants emerge, vaccines, masking, and social distancing remain critical to ending the Covid-19 pandemic.