The World Health Organization announced that up until Jan. 5, the new coronavirus strain that was discovered in Britain has been detected in 41 countries around the world. The WHO also announced that the South African mutated variant has been detected in six countries.

The discovery of the SARS-CoV-2 mutation in Britain was announced by England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty Dec. 19. According to the Observer, the South African variant, identified as 501.V2, was first discovered in Eastern Cape province Dec. 18.

According to the Scientist, the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines all provide recipients with immunity to both mutations.