A Dallas doctor and infectious diseases specialist says it’s only a matter of time before the new omicron variant of the coronavirus is detected in the U.S. -- and North Texas.

“I don’t think it’s really a question of if, but really more of a question of when,” said Dr. James Cutrell, associate professor of medicine in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

“It’s highly likely that we’re going to see a case of the omicron variant fairly soon in North Texas,” he said.

The omicron variant, first detected in South Africa a few days ago, has scientists scrambling for data and countries around the world enacting travel restrictions. Meanwhile, U.S. health officials are urging unvaccinated Americans to get their shots and eligible adults to get booster shots. Here’s what to know about the new variant.

Why are scientists worried?

The omicron variant appears to have more than 30 mutations in the coronavirus’ spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people, the Associated Press reported.

Sharon Peacock, who has led genetic sequencing of COVID-19 in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said the data so far suggest the new variant has mutations “consistent with enhanced transmissibility,” but said that “the significance of many of the mutations is still not known.”

Even though some of the genetic changes in the new variant appear worrying, it’s still unclear whether they will pose a public health threat. Some previous variants, like the beta variant, initially alarmed scientists but didn’t end up spreading very far.

Cecilia Tomori, director of global public health and community health at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, said that, before panicking about the new variant, Americans should first be worried about the continued spread of the delta variant

“We are not adequately concerned by how bad our current surge is,” she said. “We haven’t been adequately concerned about where we’ve been, which is a very high case number per day and a very high number of hospitalizations and deaths for a very, very long time.”

Hopefully, Tomori said, concern over the omicron variant will push people to implement strategies to prevent virus transmission, like getting vaccinated and wearing masks.

What do scientists know about the omicron variant?

The variant was identified last week by researchers in South Africa. Much is still not known about it, including whether it is more contagious, more likely to cause serious illness or more able to evade the protection of vaccines, the Associated Press reported.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, told Biden it would take about two more weeks before there was more information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, but said he believed vaccines would continue to provide a degree of protection, The Washington Post reported.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said that there is no data yet that suggests the new variant causes more serious illness than previous COVID-19 variants, the AP reported.

“I do think it’s more contagious when you look at how rapidly it spread through multiple districts in South Africa. It has the earmarks, therefore, of being particularly likely to spread from one person to another... What we don’t know is whether it can compete with” the delta variant, Collins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Collins said everyone should redouble their efforts to use the tools the world already has, including vaccinations, booster shots and measures such as mask-wearing, the AP reported.

Collins said that vaccination remains the first line of defense, saying that there are “good reasons” to believe, based on previous variants, that current vaccines will provide sufficient protection, The New York Times reported.

“Please, Americans, if you’re one of those folks who’s sort of waiting to see, this would be a great time to sign up, get your booster,” Collins said on Fox. “Or if you haven’t been vaccinated already, get started.”

While some experts say that early signs indicate that the omicron variant may cause only mild illness, it’s too early to assume that the variant will not cause severe illness, too, Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases specialist in South Africa, told The New York Times. Many of the early infections in South Africa were identified among younger people more likely to experience mild illness, he said.

Where has the omicron variant been detected?

It’s unclear where the omicron variant first arose, but the variant was first detected by scientists in South Africa. Cases have also been identified in Australia, Botswana, Britain, Belgium, Botswana, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Hong Kong and the Netherlands, according to The Washington Post and the Associated Press.

The variant could also be in other countries that aren’t adequately conducting genomic sequencing, said Johns Hopkins’ Tomori. “South Africa basically gave us the alarm, and we should be grateful for this alarm,” she said. “It’s sort of like other countries didn’t have their smoke alarms on.”

What travel restrictions have been put in place?

The European Union is restricting travel to and from seven countries in southern Africa — Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe — while the U.S. and South Korea have targeted those countries and Malawi, according to The New York Times. Britain has restricted travel with those eight nations and Angola and Zambia. Israel announced it was sealing its borders to all foreigners for 14 days after one case was confirmed in the country.

Many countries are introducing such bans, though they go against the advice of the World Health Organization, which has warned against any overreaction before the variant is thoroughly studied, the AP reported.

South Africa’s government responded angrily to the travel bans, which it said are “akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker.” It said it will try to persuade countries that imposed them to reconsider, the AP reported.

What do variants like omicron reveal about global vaccine inequities?

Some experts said the variant’s emergence illustrated how rich countries’ hoarding of vaccines threatens to prolong the pandemic, the AP reported.

Fewer than 6% of people in Africa have been fully immunized against COVID-19, and millions of health workers and vulnerable populations have yet to receive a single dose, the AP reported. Those conditions can speed up spread of the virus, offering more opportunities for it to evolve into a dangerous variant.

“This is one of the consequences of the inequity in vaccine rollouts and why the grabbing of surplus vaccines by richer countries will inevitably rebound on us all at some point,” said Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Britain’s University of Southampton.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.