"And those are very likely to work against the Omicron variant."

Omicron may be more transmissible than Delta

The first confirmed Omicron case in the US was identified in California on Wednesday.

Cases of the newest coronavirus variant were identified by late Friday in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Utah, according to health officials.

The Omicron variant was first identified by South African scientists.

Contingencies set in case new vaccine is needed against Omicron

Pharmaceutical companies that make Covid-19 vaccines have contingency plans in place should a new vaccine be needed against the Omicron variant, Dr.

But I would have to leave that determination to the FDA."

Omicron may have stolen genetic material from a common cold cousin

Omicron carries a stretch of genetic material that looks like it may have come from a distant relative that causes the common cold, researchers said Friday.

An analysis of the many mutations that characterize the new variant shows a long stretch that looks like what's called an insertion -- a piece of genetic material that could have been taken straight from another virus or possibly even a bacteria or a human cell, according to the researchers.

Viruses are known to do this via a process called recombination.

But they could support suggestions that Omicron is more transmissible than earlier variants, the researchers said.

The virus could have picked up the genetic material if it was infecting someone who was infected with HCoV-229E -- one of the coronaviruses that cause common colds in humans -- at the same time, the researchers said.