beautiful shot of the capitol in washington, d.c. 45 past the hour. we heard discouraging words from the vaccinemaker moderna, saying current vaccines could be less effective against the omicron variant. as nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez reports, there could soon be another new tool in the fight against the virus. >> reporter: we're one step closer to a pill for treating covid. an fda advisory panel narrowly voting to recommend merck's pill. >> this can be administered in the comfort of the patient's home, can be given as a prescription and picked up in the pharmacies. >> how does this drug stack up against the omicron variant? >> i wish we knew. we're looking at it very carefully. >> reporter: as the omicron variant spreads, the world health organization is advising