<Anchor> As the



omicron spread rapidly in the United States, it was predicted that it would overtake the delta mutation. It means that the transmission power is that strong. So, we decided to quickly create Omicron customized vaccines and treatments and quickly review them.



Correspondent Kim Soo-hyung from Washington.



<Reporter>



Three days after the first confirmed case of Omicron, there were at least 22 confirmed cases of Omicron in 12 states across the United States.



So far, 99.9% of U.S. coronavirus patients are infected with the delta mutation, but the CDC predicts that Omicron infection will soon overtake Delta.



[Wallensky/Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Omicron is probably a more contagious mutation than the delta mutation. We're going to see more Omicron infections than Delta.] In



particular, in Minnesota, there have been cases of Omicron infection even after being hit with a booster shot.



But Wallensky said the booster shot might be a success story in that the omicron patient had mild symptoms and recovered quickly.



The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to expedite a review of a vaccine and treatment for Omicron, the Wall Street Journal reported.



It is expected to minimize waste of time for pharmaceutical companies by determining what kind of research and data is needed in advance, and to apply for emergency use only by studying the immune response of hundreds of people instead of large-scale clinical trials.



This means that pharmaceutical companies can complete vaccine development and clinical trials in three months, and review and approval in one or two weeks.



[Biden/President of the United States (29th of last month): In order to bring a vaccine to the market (Omicron response), the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have told the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to use the fastest possible procedure, unless we are moving ahead enough to cause safety issues. The



United States announced that it will send an additional 9 million doses of the Corona vaccine to Africa, where the Omicron mutation is spreading.



(Video coverage: Jeong-sik Oh, video editing: Seung-jin Lee)