INVESTORS
NEWSROOM
Responsibility
CONSUMERS
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
CAREERS
ABOUT ABBOTT
COVID-19 Mu and R.1 Variants: What You Need to Know
Like Delta and other strains of COVID-19, our tests can detect these so you can make plans to feel better.
The more COVID-19 changes, the more the lessons of the pandemic stay the same.
As the Delta variant became dominant in the U.S. — and now as Mu and R.1 establish footholds around the world — the same measures that protected us against one protect us against another.
So, with people continuing to gather at more public places and events at near full capacity — including schools — here's what you need know about the Mu and R.1 variants and how testing can help bring peace of mind, just as it has since the pandemic began.
Fundamentals: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that at its peak, Mu made up less than 5% of all variants circulating in the United States, but it has fallen to less than 1% of all COVID-19 cases in the country, even as cases in the country have approached — and, in some places, eclipsed — daily totals from the heights of the pandemic last year.
While R.1, like Mu, is not a rival to Delta, an outbreak took place in Kentucky in September.
Still good advice: The virus has evolved, but general guidance for staying safe has not.
Protecting yourself: Breakthrough COVID infections after being vaccinated are exceedingly rare — less than 1% — according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Vaccines "help protect people who are vaccinated from getting COVID-19 or getting severely ill from COVID-19," according to the (CDC).
Next steps: It's within your power to keep you and your family safe from COVID, whatever new strain comes. And they will keep coming. Along with vaccines, testing is a key component of any plan.