Former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned that the coronavirus epidemic is “about to explode” in the United States, as more than 100 million cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the country on Monday, just 10 days after reaching a record 9 million, an unprecedented daily increase in infections.
On Sunday, about 105,000 cases joined the country, and Johns Hopkins reported that Covid’s cases topped the 100,000 for the fifth day in a row.
“The challenge is that the virus is now spreading across the country,” Gottlieb said. “We are preparing to launch a really important epidemic across the country and unfortunately, before this therapeutic response comes before us, it will cause not only the vaccine, but also many deaths and diseases with it. These therapeutic antibodies.”
Amid an increase in record cases, two groundbreaking developments were announced in the vaccine race. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of experimental antibody treatment for Eli Lilly’s Covid-19, and drug maker Pfizer announced preliminary data showing that its experimental vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing coronavirus. Pfizer CEO Albert Borla told CNBC that there could be 50 million doses by the end of the year.
“It’s a great day for science, it’s a great day for humanity,” Borla said. “When you realize your vaccine has 90% effectiveness, it’s overwhelming.”
In an interview on “The News with Shepard Smith” on Monday evening, Gottlieb explained who would decide which vaccine to take first, for which the risk-benefit is most meaningful.
“You want to target more people who are going to benefit from the vaccine, and that will be older individuals, possibly people with nursing homes or long-term support facilities,” Gottlieb said. “Not only are they at high risk of contracting the virus, but they are also at high risk of having a bad outcome.”
In a recent NBC News / Street Journal poll, only 20% of people responded that they would be vaccinated as soon as possible, but Dr. Gottlieb told host Shepard Smith that he did not think the sentiment would last. He explained that once the vaccine is ready for a large area population, there will still be a lot of data, which will not be available until the second or third quarter of next year.
“A vaccine that achieves that level of effectiveness, when we’re talking about 90% or more effectiveness of a vaccine, can give you a degree of safety that gets you to a point where we can focus on going back. Gottlieb said, “Later next year, for a sign of normal life, we will once again turn it into an expanded population.”
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