welcome back to cnn newsroom. i m isa soares. if you re just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. the european commission has authorized the novavax covid vaccine making it the first protein vaccine available in the eu. this will be the fifth vaccine available for use across the blok. the bloc. the u.s. is seeing an increase in omicron variant in 38 states. new cases are omicron, but the delta still accounts for most cases overall. we are tracking developments this hour at the white house after a staff member who is a close contact of president joe biden tested positive for covid-19. cnn s nikki carvajal has more from washington. reporter: president biden flew on air force one with this