“almost like a different novel virus”

So when do viral mutations constitute a fresh novel virus?

Panic Mode: Internal Document Reveals CDC Pushing for More Forceful Messaging
The internal document, which the Washington Post obtained, reportedly shows the health agency confessing a need to “revamp its public messaging” to coerce Americans to get vaccinated, touting it as the “best defense against a variant so contagious that it acts almost like a different novel virus.”

But of course, despite differing spike proteins, nucleotides, symptoms, and transmissibility, the almost a different novel virus must still be SARS-CoV-2 or they couldn’t maintain the charade of a ChinCOVID pandemic. It would just be the usual range of coronavirus common colds unworthy of panicmongering.