WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci said the discovery of the omicron variant in the United States on Wednesday was “just a matter of time” and advised Americans across the country to get COVID-19 vaccine boosters and continue using masks.
Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said the first case discovered in California was an individual who was tested for COVID-19 on Nov. 29 after traveling to the United States from South Africa on Nov. 22.
“We knew that it was just a matter of time before the first case,” Fauci said at a White House press briefing. “We know what we need to do to protect people.”
