NIH Director Says Omicron Unlikely the Last Variant of COVID-19

NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins holds up a model of the coronavirus as he testifies before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee looking into the budget estimates for National Institute of Health and the state of medical research, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on May 26, 2021. Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP

The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that Omicron is likely not the last variant that will emerge from the original coronavirus.

“It’s certainly possible that this is not the last emerging variant that will attract a lot of attention and a lot of concern,” Dr. Francis Collins said in an interview on “Meet the Press” Sunday, when asked if people should be expecting a “new dominant variant” every six months.