will be restricted from entering the united states. this move comes just minutes after the world health organization designated a new variant of concern with covid, and named it omicron. concerns over the new variant have led to multiple international travel bands, to global markets tumbling today, and to scientists already testing the impact of this variant on the vaccine s effectiveness. the fear is that omicron could evade immunity and spread more easily. this was first detected in south africa. the health minister there issued an alert yesterday saying this variant has had an unusually high number of mutations. b.1.1.529 is named as a variant of concern because it has some concerning properties. this variant has a large number of mutations. and some of these mutations have some worrying characteristics. right now, there are many studies that are underway.