WHO noted in Monday's announcement that the new labels do not replace existing scientific names for coronavirus variants. "While they have their advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to say and recall, and are prone to misreporting. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. There are some concerns that WHO's new Greek alphabet naming system has come a little too late -- and now the system might make describing the variants even more complicated as there will be three potential names: their scientific name, references based on where a variant was first identified and now, WHO's Greek alphabet labeling. He added that he thinks it will be difficult to now persuade people to start using the Greek alphabet labels.

Source: CNN May 31, 2021 21:00 UTC