Kate McKinnon Finally Returns to ‘SNL,’ Plays Dr. Fauci in Omicron Christmas Cold Open

Kate McKinnon finally returned to Saturday Night Live on the show’s Billie Eilish-hosted episode, making her first appearance of Season 47 to reprise her Dr. Anthony Fauci role and answer questions about the Omicron variant.

“I’m baaaaaack,” McKinnon’s Fauci declared at the onset of the cold open, although she was heralding her own return eight episodes into Season 47.

The sketch itself harkened back to a cold open last season where Fauci enlisted the “CDC Players” to run through scenarios regarding face mask guidelines; this time around, McKinnon’s Fauci presented scenarios for another Covid-marred holiday season with the Omicron variant looming.

“With Covid cases, people still have a lot of questions: Is it safe to travel? Can I still use this as an excuse to get out of stuff? ‘I would like to never work again,’” the doctor said.

With that, the “CDC Players” — or the SNL cast — took the stage to act out various holiday scenes, including going to a restaurant without your vaccination card, Covid safety on airplanes and even sitting on Santa’s lap.

Deviating into current events, a pair of unemployed brothers — Andrew and Chris Cuomo, played by Pete Davidson and Andrew Dismukes — then appeared to blame Covid on their current situation. That duo was followed by a pair of congresswomen, Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert (Cecily Strong and Chloe Wiseman), to wish everyone a gun-happy Christmas. Aidy Bryant’s Ted Cruz then hijacked the Fauci press conference to brag about not wearing a face mask at Bob Dole’s funeral and bring the cold open to a close.