Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC Friday that he believes many Americans will begin holding group meetings long before President Joe Biden is Independence Day.
In an interview with “Squawk Box,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said he believes the timeline Biden set Thursday in his first-hour speech was too conservative compared to actual behavior. of the people.
“I think most Americans will meet long before July,” said Gottlieb, who headed the FDA during the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. He is now a member of Pfizer’s board of directors, which constitutes a of the three Covid. vaccines disposed of for emergency use in the US
Biden’s speech Thursday night on the pandemic sought to highlight the collective toll Covid has taken over the past year, while offering two future public health goals. The first is to address states so that all adults can qualify for coronavirus vaccines before May 1st. The second: a goal for Americans to gather safely in small groups with friends and loved ones to celebrate July 4th.
“I think we should give public health advice that matches where people are,” Gottlieb said. “[When] people feel that the risk decreases because they have been vaccinated, because they see that infection levels are falling in many parts of the country, they will be willing to take more risks because they feel that their vulnerability decreases. And you know what? They are right. “He predicted,” People will come out this summer and come out long before July. “
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Gottlieb’s comments.
Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines stating that fully vaccinated people can safely meet indoors with other fully vaccinated people (and with certain unvaccinated individuals). ) without masks or social distances.
The guide came as U.S. states have been lifting pandemic-era restrictions in recent weeks as vaccinations set in and daily coronavirus infections fall well below the January high. However, senior health officials in the Biden administration have warned that the decline in cases is starting to slow, as disputed states should be more cautious in removing capacity restrictions. to companies and mask mandates.
Last Friday, Gottlieb said mask warrants should be the last policies states and localities lift after Texas and Mississippi announced the end of their facial coverage rules.
According to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the global U.S. average makes 53,798 new cases a day, over the past seven days. This fell 15% compared to a week ago. New U.S. cases reached 49,356 cases on Thursday, down nearly 84 percent from a January single-day high.
A key factor that helps curb the spread of the virus is the rise in immunity levels in the U.S. population, Gottlieb said. He estimated that about half of the American population has some form of protective immunity against coronavirus, taking into account both diagnosed and undiagnosed infections, along with vaccinated people.
Approximately 64 million Americans have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine, which equates to approximately 19% of the U.S. population of 330 million people, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One in ten Americans is completely vaccinated.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which Americans have been receiving since December, require two shots to fully protect themselves against the development of Covid. However, studies suggest that some immunity is created after the initial dose. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the latest entrant to the U.S. market, is just one shot.
The U.S. has approximately 29.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins. The actual number is higher than this, said Gottlieb, who reiterated his position from the early days of the pandemic. He argues that not all people who became infected were tested and their positive result was recorded.
“We’re probably diagnosing one in four infections, maybe a little better than right now,” said Gottlieb, who has previously estimated that about a third of Americans would have had Covid. “So we are above 50%” of the population with some kind of immunity, he added.
“At this level, you will not get such a rapid transfer of infections. It is not immunity from the herd, but you will get immunity from the population,” he said.
Outreach: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and board member of Pfizer, initial genetic testing company Tempus, health technology company Aetion, and biotechnology company Illuminate. He is also co – chair of Norway Cruise Line Holdings‘i Royal Caribbean“Healthy Candle Panel”.