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It's the speed that experts worry: the speed at which the new coronavirus is spreading.
Two new variants, which were first detected in England and South Africa, seem to spread more easily and therefore faster and to ensure that the number of infections soars.
In order not to be surprised by the virus again, experts are now calling for monitoring of the pathogen to be urgently expanded.
The two new variants should be seen as a "wake-up call", said Andreas Bergthaler from the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The detection systems would have to be expanded and coordinated.
"We must not believe that we have already reached the end of the marathon with the vaccines."
The Federal Ministry of Health announced last week that more would be invested in the monitoring of virus variants in Germany in the future.
The scientists are also calling for a global network of laboratories that monitor Sars-CoV-2 more closely.
A model could be the international surveillance system for influenza viruses, which was set up to monitor the constantly changing influenza viruses and thus develop, among other things, the most precisely tailored vaccines possible.
Richard Neher from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel said that such a coordinated approach to coronavirus monitoring is still a long way off.
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So far, the monitoring of Sars-CoV-2 is a matter of the state.
In Great Britain, it is important to know which virus variants are currently circulating in the country.
The virus genotype is deciphered in around five percent of the samples taken in corona tests, and in Denmark it is even twelve percent, according to Bergthaler.
In Germany, before variant B.1.1.7 appeared, it was only about 0.2 percent.
In addition, in many countries it takes far more than two weeks for the data to be available for analysis, added Neher, head of the research group Evolution of Viruses and Bacteria.
The two newly found variants B.1.1.7 (identified for the first time in England) and 501Y.V2 (identified for the first time in South Africa) illustrate why precise virus monitoring is necessary.
They have a "remarkable constellation of many mutations," explained Neher.
They were created independently of each other and a long time ago - it is not surprising that they were noticed in Great Britain and South Africa of all places: "Both countries sequence a lot." It was also possible to understand that the proportion of these variants there has suddenly risen sharply and they began to dominate the infectious process, explained Isabella Eckerle from the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Geneva.
What is not yet clear, however, is how much more contagious the variants are.
The fact that Great Britain has not succeeded in significantly reducing the infection rate even with lockdown measures, however, gives rise to fears for other countries in B.1.1.7 Arges.
“If it prevails, we would have a problem,” says Eckerle.
The virus forms that have been circulating up to now have already shown that measures are often less effective than hoped - also because many people have become more tired of corona and are less careful than in the spring of last year.
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Isabella Eckerle emphasized that it is still unclear and cannot be assessed whether variant B.1.1.7, which has now also been proven in Germany and many other countries, causes more infections among children.
After all, there is so far no evidence that it could cause more serious illnesses and deaths.
Many questions about the biology of the pathogen are still open.
It is not yet known how the variants with the unusually large number of accumulated mutations came about.
Two theories are currently being discussed: They could have developed in immunocompromised patients who carried the virus for months and passed it on, said Bergthaler, head of the CeMM research group Viral Pathogenesis and Antiviral Immune Responses.
A second theory assumes that animals played a role as intermediate hosts.
On mink farms in Denmark there were such leaps from humans to animals and back again.
"We don't yet know what the evolution accelerator was."
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In general, it is a dilemma that in the case of B.1.1.7 and other potentially dangerous variants, quick decisions to counteract have to be made before precise data on the pathogens are available, explained Eckerle.
That is not always easy to convey to the population.
“We will see more of these variants in the future.
Then again and again there will be the question of the reaction. “Europe still has a few months to go before the vaccinations really take effect and noticeably fewer people are susceptible to Covid-19.
At least the current vaccination campaigns are not in danger as things stand: the vaccines very likely also covered the two variants, said Bergthaler.
In addition, RNA vaccines are relatively flexible in design and easier to adapt than conventional vaccines.
At the moment, it is more important to reduce the number of cases - not only to cushion a possible increase, but also to reduce the risk of further variants arising.
"The main danger posed by the variants is clearly the faster spread," emphasized Richard Neher.
The experts agree: Not only in the next few months, but also in the next few years, a high level of attention and a lot of monitoring will be necessary.
Because it is certain that science is always a little behind in the race against the virus.