Meaning of Beta variant | Babel Free

Definitions

The highly virulent B.1.351 strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

Examples

“Studies in Qatar, where the Beta variant once accounted for half of all infections, have found that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are 72 to 75 percent effective at preventing infection with Beta, a lower degree of protection than the shots provide against other variants.”

“The Beta variant was selected because it was the prevalent SARS-CoV-2 strain at the time. Thus, after a prolonged interval after immunization with RBD-β, we had planned to challenge these animals with the Beta variant to assess the durability of protection against this variant.”

“South Africa stopped offering the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine (which is not available in the U.S.) early in 2021 after clinical trials showed it did not provide strong protection against mild and moderate disease from the Beta variant. Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson also reported less protection against Beta.”

CEFR level