The head of the National Institutes of Health has recommended that people wear face masks as the US braces for the arrival of the new Omicron variant of the coronaviruses.
Francis Collins, the director of the National Institute for Health, said in an interview on ABC's News' "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that the virus is not tired of us and is exploiting opportunities where we're careless.
Collins said that even without knowing about Omicron, he would recommend that masks be worn.
"We have tens of thousands of people in the hospital," Collins said. If I'm indoors with other people, I wear my mask. I don't know if they're all vaccine free. That's good practice.
Good Morning America is on November 30, 2021.
The Dutch National Institute for Public Health said on Tuesday that the Omicron variant was found in Europe earlier than previously thought.
The variant is only a matter of time before it arrives in the US, according to health officials.
The World Health Organization warned this week that Omicron poses a very high global risk and could have "severe consequences."
It's not clear how effective the vaccines are against the variant.
Collins urged everyone to get their booster shot if they have already been inoculated, as he called the COVID-19 vaccines people's best protection.
