The World Health Organization stopped naming Covid-19 viruses after Omicron. The namesake of new variants such as Kraken, Eris, and Pirola was Canadian professor Ryan Gregory. The whole world accepts these names that he came up with, inspired by mythology and stars.
Prof T. Ryan Gregory is a 48-year-old evolutionary biologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. He follows the notable sub-variants that emerged after Omicron, gives them nicknames, and announces them on his social media accounts with many followers. The namesake of the Eris variant, which we have heard much about lately, is Gregory himself.
The names Gregory found for mutated viruses, which the World Health Organization calls 'variants under monitoring', have been accepted among news sources, doctors, and vaccine developers for months. While some virologists and public health experts say the nicknames create confusion and exaggerate the risks, Gregory says he's trying to help people understand the Omicron soup of subvariants.
The World Health Organization began naming notable Covid-19 variants with letters of the Greek alphabet in the spring of 2021. The organization said the letters and numbers researchers used could make it difficult for others to follow and that they did not want to name variants based on where they were identified. For example, the concerning B.1.1.7 variant, also called the UK variant, became Alpha. Variants such as Beta, Gamma, and Delta followed. Since Omicron emerged in late 2011, according to the WHO, no variant has differentiated from Omicron "enough to receive a new name."
Prof Gregory shared a Wikipedia link with potential names in 2022, saying, "If the WHO is no longer going to use Greek letters, why not use Greek mythological beings to speak what we need?" This suggestion was accepted both in the media and in scientific circles. Kraken was a name he chose from Scandinavian mythology.
Warning letter from WHO
When some virologists and public health experts warned that depicting Omicron subvariants as monsters risked intimidation, Gregory turned from mythology to astronomy. This is how Eris, the name of a dwarf planet, and the asteroid Pirola became the names of Covid variants. The World Health Organization is disturbed by this situation. A letter from WHO also arrived at Gregory, saying, "We do not use pseudonyms for sub-variants and we request that you do not use them."
Gregory objects: If the subvariants are different enough to update vaccines, it makes sense to give them nicknames.