Genetic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Mexico during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Blanca Taboada, Selene Zárate, Pavel Iša, Célia Boukadida, Joel Armando Vázquez-Pérez, José Esteban Muñoz‐Medina, José Ernesto Ramírez–González, Andreu Comas‐García, Concepción Grajales-Muñíz, Alma Rincón-Rubio, Margarita Matías‐Florentino, Alejandro Sánchez‐Flores, Edgar Mendieta-Condado, Jérôme Verleyen, Gisela Barrera-Badillo, Lucía Hernández‐Rivas, Fidencio Mejía-Nepomuceno, José Arturo Martínez-Orozco, Eduardo Becerril‐Vargas, Susana López, Irma López-Martı́nez, Santiago Ávila‐Ríos, Carlos F. Arias
Abstract
During the first year of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Mexico, more than two million people were infected. In this study, we analyzed full genome sequences from 27 February 2020 to 28 February 2021 to characterize the geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 lineages and identify the most common circulating lineages during this period. We defined six different geographical regions with particular dynamics of lineage circulation. The Northeast and Northwest regions were the ones that exhibited the highest lineage diversity, while the Central south and South/Southeast regions presented less diversity with predominance of a certain lineage. Additionally, by late February 2021, lineage B.1.1.519 represented more than 89% of all circulating lineages in the country.