The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic had variants, called by some as “scariant” (scare/scary + variant).
     
“So many variants of scary. Scariants” was posted on Twitter by Cal Wilson on July 9, 2012. “Scariant” was posted on Twitter by benny blanco on December 22, 2020 and “It’s actually a SCARIANT” was posted on Twitter by FlBirder on January 2, 2021. but the tweets these were responding to have been removed, so the context is uncertain.
     
“UK scariant” was posted on Twitter by Kevin McKernan on January 13, 2021. “This is how you create scariants” was posted on Twitter by Kevin McKernan on January 14, 2021. “Never mind the scary variants aka ‘scariants’” was posted on Twitter by Abdu Sharkawy on January 19, 2021.
   
 
Wikipedia: COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020.
         
Twitter
Cal Wilson
@calbo
So many variants of scary. Scariants. RT @courteneyh: i’m scared that this will give me nightmares: http://bit.ly/ukGjA3
8:41 AM · Jul 9, 2012·Echofon
           
Twitter
benny blanco
@realmarkdoc
Replying to @BrianSpanner1
Scariant
5:27 PM · Dec 22, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
FlBirder
@FlBirder
Replying to @amandajs78 and @braceberg1
It’s actually a SCARIANT.
4:39 PM · Jan 2, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
Kevin McKernan
@Kevin_McKernan
Replying to @Kevin_McKernan
So the ‘UK scariant’ is a reminder that our EUAs are built on as little as 40 samples in the test set with a limited diversity in the exclusion test. The sequencing assays being used to claim specificity have their own bias. But the long tail of +vity is whats killing us.
8:39 PM · Jan 13, 2021·Twitter Web App
 
Twitter
Kevin McKernan
@Kevin_McKernan
This is how you create scariants.
Variants that show up in publications and scare everyone because they haven’t had the time to double check their own data.
Their own data usually shows it’s not that novel and much of the scare was just publication sizzle.
10:39 AM · Jan 14, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
     
Twitter
Aanchal
@Origichals
nCov variant, is now nCov scariant!
#Origichals
11:03 AM · Jan 15, 2021·Twitter for Android
 
Twitter
Abdu Sharkawy
@SharkawyMD
Important & reassuring. Never mind the scary variants aka “scariants”. Basic PH measures still work! Trust in masking, distancing, limiting contacts for the win.
Quote Tweet
Isaac Bogoch
@BogochIsaac
· Jan 19
Conventional measures to control #COVID19 work well, even in regions with the B117 variant (variant discovered in UK), which causes more transmissible infections.
Cases are DOWN in the UK & Denmark (where there is growing B117 variant), when control initiatives are adhered to.  twitter.com/kakape/status/…
Show this thread
10:25 AM · Jan 19, 2021·Twitter Web App
   
Twitter
Kevin McKernan
@Kevin_McKernan
Pyromaniac firefighter chasing down new scariants.
Quote Tweet
Dr. Simon ツ
@goddeketal
· Jan 22
1/ In this short Downwards arrowthreadDownwards arrow, I will tell you why the inventor of the #COVID-PCR test (and German #Fauci), @c_drosten, is a ‘pyromaniac firefighter’ with strong economic ties while spreading highly contradictory messages.
Show this thread
9:20 AM · Jan 22, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
   
Twitter
Abdu Sharkawy
@SharkawyMD
Replying to @SharkawyMD
But what about those scary variants, the “scariants”? British b.1.1.7, S African, Brazilian strains all more transmissible (range 30-70%). British doesn’t seem to cause worse disease, mortality, likely susceptible to vaccines. Jury still out on others 10/
6:33 PM · Jan 22, 2021·Twitter for Android
 
Twitter
Eric Topol
@EricTopol
We’re entered variant-mania season—“scariants”
The adage is that all variants are innocent until proven guilty.
That applies to all of these here. No evidence of functional significance for any to date.
11:04 PM · Feb 16, 2021·Twitter Web App
   
Twitter
Ben Zimmer
@bgzimmer
Wait, “SARS-CoV-2 variant” gets shortened to “scariant”? Seems like scientists might want to come up with a term that’s a little less… scary. https://twitter.com/K_G_Andersen/status/1365461953775235073
This Tweet is unavailable.
1:53 AM · Feb 27, 2021·TweetDeck
 
WebMD
Variants or “Scariants”: Are the Threats Real or Just Media Hype?
PUBLISHED ON MAR 01, 2021
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] JOHN WHYTE: Welcome, everyone. I’m Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Officer at WebMD and you’re watching Coronavirus in Context. Have you heard about these variants—the New York variant, the California variant, Brazil variant, South African variant, the UK variant. We’ve been talking about variants for a long time. But what impact does that have, then, on our behavior and the news? Are we covering them too much?
   
Wired
MEGAN MOLTENI SCIENCE 03.05.2021 02:47 PM
The US Has a Covid ‘Scariants’ Problem. Here’s How to Fix It
Researchers are racing to understand new versions of the coronavirus. But without scientific standards, too many mutants are getting the monster treatment.
LATE LAST YEAR, while the US was plunged into its worst days of the pandemic, new, more insidious versions of SARS-CoV-2—first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa—silently arrived on its shores. For months now, Americans have been anxiously watching them spread. But recently, the specter of homegrown horrors have begun to steal the show.
   

Variants, ‘scariants’: The media has overblown the alarm on new Covid-19 mutations, experts say
by KATE SELIG
MARCH 12, 2021
(...)
“I call them ‘scariants,’” said Dr. Paul Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory panel. “I think we scare the hell out of ourselves when we watch national television.”
 
Urban Dictionary
Scariant
Portmanteau combining scary and variant.
Exaggerated fear of a COVID-19 variant
What scariant is on the menu this week. India? South Africa? Or is it a double fusion super scariant?
by ChrisR41 April 21, 2021