KEY POINTS
  • The new coronavirus has undergone several major mutations, and it's likely that more, significant variations will emerge.
  • Several variants have emerged recently, most notably in the U.K. and South Africa.
  • Japan reported a new mutation on Sunday.
Healthcare workers enter visitor information on laptops before administering doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Mother and Child Hospital in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021.

Viruses constantly mutate, so it's not surprising that the coronavirus that emerged in China in late 2019 has gone through multiple minor variations. But it has also undergone several major mutations, and it's likely that more, significant variations will emerge.

Most recently, strains have emerged in South Africa and the U.K. that have prompted some concerns about the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines. There is also a suspected new strain in the U.S., with the White House coronavirus task force warning early in the new year that there could be a new, more transmissible variant of the virus that evolved in the U.S. and is driving spread, according to a document obtained by NBC News.