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They may affect the immune response caused by vaccines and natural infections and reduce the sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies. We analyze the distribution characteristics of prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variants and the frequency of mutant sites based on the data available from GISAID and PANGO by R 4.0.2 and ArcGIS 10.2. Our analysis suggests that B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 are more easily spreading than other variants, and the key mutations of S protein, including N501Y, E484K, and K417N\/T, have high mutant frequencies, which may have become the main genotypes for the spread of SARS-CoV-2.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2021.696664","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,2]],"date-time":"2021-08-02T04:27:15Z","timestamp":1627878435000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["The Emergence and Spread of Novel SARS-CoV-2 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