NIH director says to wear masks amid Omicron fears: 'I know we're all tired of this, but the virus is not tired of us'

• The head of the NIH has recommended that people wear face masks amid Omicron fears.
• "I know we're all tired of this, but the virus is not tired of us," the NIH director said on "GMA."

The head of the National Institutes of Health has recommended that people wear face masks as the US braces for the imminent arrival of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

"I know we're all tired of this, but the virus is not tired of us and it's continuing to exploit those opportunities where we're careless," NIH director Francis Collins said in an interview on ABC's News' "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.

When asked whether he would advise mask wearing until the severity of Omicron is known, Collins said: "I would recommend that even without knowing about Omicron, because [the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant] Delta is very much with us."

"We still have tens of thousands of people in the hospital," Collins added. "I wear my mask if I'm indoors with other people. I don't always know whether they're all vaccinated or not. That's just good practice."

The Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa, though the Dutch National Institute for Public Health said on Tuesday that it was found in Europe earlier than previously thought.

Health officials have said that it is only a matter of time before the variant emerges in the US.

The World Health Organization warned this week that Omicron poses a "very high" global risk and potential COVID-19 surges could have "severe consequences."

It is not yet clear how effective the available COVID-19 vaccines are against the variant.

Collins called the COVID-19 vaccines people's "best protection" as he urged everyone to get vaccinated or get their booster shot if they have already been inoculated.