From Nelly to Doug: nicknames emerge for growing list of Covid variants

With no agreed naming system, scientists are devising their own nomenclature to fill the gap

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Each day seemingly unveils a fresh variant of the virus that causes Covid-19. These variants - may be worthy of concern or simply stoke scientific curiosity, but they carry some industrial-strength technical names such as B117 or B1351.

And as the list grows bulkier, even the scientists need some respite, so some have developed nicknames such as Nelly or designated a bird species to refer to particular mutations or variants.