A CDC bar chart showing the rapid growth of the Omicron COVID-19 variant across successive weeks.
A CDC chart showing the mix of variants detected in US COVID-19 cases in late 2021. Orange is the Delta variant, purple is Omicron, and dark blue represents all other variants. Insider annotated the chart for clarity.CDC/Insider
  • The highly transmissible Omicron variant quickly become dominant in the US.
  • A CDC chart shows just how fast it took over after it was first detected.
  • It went from making up 0.7% of US COVID-19 cases to making up 73% of cases in just two weeks.

A striking chart shows how quickly the Omicron variant shot to dominance in the US.

It was produced by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which dropped new data on Monday on Omicron's prevalance.

It said the variant made up 73% of the cases in the country in the week ending December 18, relegating the once-dominant Delta variant to minority status.

The variant is highly transmissible. It only made up 0.7% of cases in the US in the week ending on December 4.

Here is the chart as shown on the CDC website:

A chart showing Omicron's growth.
The CDC chart showing a longer period of time and including the scientific names for the Omicron and Delta variants.CDC

B.167.2 refers to the Delta variant, which was previously dominant in the US, and B.1.1.529 refers to the Omicron variant.

Click here for Insider's full coverage of the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Read the original article on Business Insider