This story is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. Link to FULL story: nj.com/coronavirus/2021/07/lambda-variant-of-covid-what-are-the-symptoms-of-this-strain-of-interest.html

The Lambda variant of the coronavirus is a strain of the initial COVID-19 virus that was initially discovered in Peru in Aug. 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

On June 14, 2021, the agency named the strain after the Greek letter “Lambda” and declared it a “variant of interest,” meaning it could be more dangerous than the initial strain of the coronavirus.

However, it was not labeled a “variant of concern” because there is not enough reliable data that shows the variant contains worrisome characteristics or is astransmissible as the Delta variant.

Scientists say the variant is worth watching because of Lambda’s prevalence in several countries and its mutations.