Fmr FDA Chief Says Increased Vaccinations Will Be ‘Pretty Big Backstop’ Against Fourth Surge of Covid Cases
Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that increased vaccinations will be “a pretty big backstop” against another surge of the coronavirus.
Gottlieb, who sits on the board of Pfizer, said last week he’s optimistic the United States will avoid a fourth wave amid the ongoing vaccine rollout.
As of this posting, the CDC reports that over 140 million covid vaccine doses have been administered to date — with 15 percent of the total population fully vaccinated and 28 percent with at least one dose.
VACCINE RAMP UP: @ScottGottliebMD tells @margbrennan that increased vaccinations – at a rate of nearly 3 million a day – are a “good backstop” against future COVID-19 surges, but warns that there could be some hotspots around the country. pic.twitter.com/8b229YOi6M
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 28, 2021
This Sunday Gottlieb appeared again on Face the Nation telling Margaret Brennan he’s still encouraged by those numbers, saying, “I think that’s a pretty big backstop against a true fourth surge.”
He said there are some troubling outbreaks in several states and noted, “What we need to do is try to continue to vaccinate, surge vaccine into those parts of the country.”
“So the incremental vaccine that’s coming onto the market, I think the Biden administration can allocate it to parts of the country that look hot right now. But if we could just get two or three more weeks of around three million vaccines a day, that’s going to be a pretty big backstop, against a true fourth surge,” he added.
