The White house has confirmed the nation has officially recorded its first case of Omicron Covid-19

The individual was a traveler who returned from South Africa on November 22 and tested positive on November 29. 

They have been self-quarantining and all close contacts have been contacted and all have tested negative so far.

The US now joins a growing list of other countries that have confirmed cases of the variant, including Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

Is a booster shot the answer?

This all comes as Israel’s health minister says there are “indications” that a booster shot may provide protection against Omicron.

Vaccine developers will have more information about whether their current shots are effective within the next fourteen days.

The World Health Organisation also expects to have further information regarding the transmissibility of the new variant and says the world could have answers within days, not weeks.

Fauci’s message

US infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci has also just addressed the nation during a White House press briefing.

Fauci says the discovery of the Omicron variant within America is just “another example of why it’s important for people to get vaccinated who’ve not been vaccinated… but also boosting.”

Fauci says variants in the past, like Delta, have shown that “even though the vaccine isn’t specifically targeted to such variants… when you get a high enough level of an immune response, you get spillover protection”.

Meanwhile, as nations right around the world move to halt the spread of Omicron, the WHO’s Director-General has hit out at recently-imposed travel bans.

The Director says “we do not want to see countries penalised for sharing information, because this is how WHO makes assessments and provides advice”.