The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that New Jersey and New York are now seeing the highest spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant. “In some areas of the country, the estimates of Omicron are even higher including in New York and New Jersey, where CDC projects that Omicron could represent about 13 percent of all cases,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a COVID-19 press briefing on Dec. 15. The new variant, which was named last month, is estimated to account for about 3 percent of infections nationwide, she said, adding that federal authorities believe Omicron is more transmissible than the Delta variant—which makes up the bulk of infections worldwide. Meanwhile, the Delta variant remains the dominant strain in the United States, accounting for about 97 percent of all COVID-19 cases, Walensky said. According to a recent analysis of news reports, the variant has been discovered in …