WASHINGTON- United States:  According to leading US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, the newest Omicron variant  is expected to become a dominant Covid-19 form in the United States.

"Omicron is going to be a great challenge  because it spreads so quickly, and the vaccines we use -- the standard two-dose mRNA -- don't do very well against infection," he said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

While there is nearly a vertical jump in infection in South Africa, where the Omicron variant was originally found, the country is not seeing serious hospitalizations, according to Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Since the first case in the US was detected in California on December 1, the Omicron variant, which is probably more contagious than the Delta variant, had been found in at least 31 US states as of Monday, according to reports.

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