WASHINGTON — A variant of the coronavirus recently discovered in France does not appear to be poised for a major breakout, at least partially quelling concerns that a new surge was imminent even as the earlier surges caused by the Delta and Omicron variants continued around the world.
“That virus has had a lot of chances to pick up,” a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday of the new variant, nicknamed “the IHU” for the French research center where it was discovered late last year.
The variant is thought to have originated in the African nation of Cameroon; it was carried to southeastern France by a vaccinated traveler who “developed