Covid: Javid confirms community spread of Omicron - BBC News
Health Secretary Sajid Javid says the new coronavirus variant is spreading "in multiple regions of England".
Chief medical advisor to the US president Dr Anthony Fauci Image caption: Chief medical advisor to the US president Dr Anthony Fauci

Leading public health figures in the US are still trying to wrap their head around what the Omicron coronavirus variant means for the world.

Dr Anthony Fauci, lead infectious diseases expert in the US, said that scientists still need more information on the highly-mutated variant but hospitalisations in South Africa, where Omicron is now the dominant strain, have not risen drastically.

"Thus far, it does not look like there’s a great degree of severity to it," he told CNN on Sunday. “But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn’t cause any severe illness, comparable to Delta”.

Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, said there was a "real risk" existing vaccines may not be effective against the new strain.

"What I don't know is how substantial that is," he told ABC News.

The Delta variant continues to be dominant in the US, but Omicron has now been found in at least 17 US states.