Evidence from late 2021–early 2022 shows that Omicron spread globally and became dominant within weeks to a few months of its identification, matching Friedberg’s prediction.

• The WHO reported on 18 December 2021 that Omicron had been detected in 89 countries and that “the number of Omicron cases doubles in 1.5 to 3 days in places with community transmission”, noting it was spreading rapidly even in countries with high vaccination levels.
• By early January 2022, the U.S. CDC reported that Omicron had become the dominant variant in the United States, accounting for an estimated ~95% of new infections during the week ending 1 January 2022.
• Similar reports from the UK and other regions in December 2021–January 2022 showed Omicron quickly displacing Delta and becoming the predominant strain.

These data show that from early December 2021 (podcast date) to January 2022 (roughly 4–8 weeks), Omicron spread worldwide and became widespread in many regions, in line with the prediction that it would be “everywhere fast” and highly transmissible.