Dr. Scott Gottlieb explained Monday how he tries to keep his three young daughters out of the coronavirus while allowing them to visit friends before their age groups can be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Gottlieb detailed his focus on “Squawk Box,” after co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked the former FDA chief for his opinion on children’s play dates in case his parents were completely vaccinated. .
“I’m reintroducing activities with my kids, but I do it, I hope, in a prudent way that I still keep the social network a little bit defined. I take into account the amount of people they interact with and are interacting with,” he said. Gottlieb, who led the Food and Drug Administration in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. He is now on the board of Pfizer, which has one of three Covid vaccines approved for use in emergency to the US
“For example, many of his play dates have been with kids in his class,” Gottlieb said. “Why? Because this is their social pod. They’re already exposed to this social pod, and so we’re trying to keep the interactions within that defined pod.”
None of the vaccines used in the U.S. are yet authorized for young children.
Johnson & Johnson’s single vaccine and Moderna’s dose vaccine received limited elimination for people over 18 years of age. In contrast, the FDA allowed the two-shot Pfizer vaccine to be given to people over 16 years of age.
All three drug manufacturers are testing the vaccine in children, although clinical trials are in several stages and examine different age groups.
Pfizer said Wednesday its vaccine was 100% effective in teens ages 12 to 15, and Gottlieb told CNBC he hopes the FDA can eliminate it for its cohort of children in the fall when it resumes. school.
Experts say vaccination of children is necessary for the United States to achieve so-called herd immunity, which is the point where there are enough people in a population who have antibodies to fight the vaccine virus or previous infections. and therefore drastically reduce its spread.
“Children are clearly less vulnerable to infection, but being less vulnerable doesn’t mean they are not vulnerable and we see some children getting sick with coronavirus,” Gottlieb said.
Right now, as more adults get vaccinated and feel comfortable resuming activities they avoided before the pandemic, such as traveling, eating indoors, and seeing friends and family, some wonder how they should view the risk. for their children.
“Vaccinated parents reduce the risk of children getting the infection … because many of the infections we see in contact tracking are actually children who become infected from their parents, not children who become infected at school.” said Gottlieb said. “If you interact with families where adults have been vaccinated, children are less likely to get the infection.”
However, Gottlieb stressed that even vaccinated Americans should continue to keep in mind that the pandemic, which lasts more than a year, is not over yet. For example, he said, a person who received a Covid shot should still wear a mask around a person at risk who has not been vaccinated.
“Vaccinated people may feel that they are much less likely to get seriously ill,” he said. “They are less likely to be infected and less likely to transmit evidence. But if you are close to vulnerable people, there is still the possibility, even if you are vaccinated, that you may be asymptotic and remove the virus and transmit the virus. to that vulnerable person. “
– CNBC Berkeley Lovelace Jr. has contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and board member of Pfizer, of the start of Tempus genetic testing, of healthcare technology company Aetion Inc. and biotechnology. Illuminate. He is also co – chair of Norway Cruise Line Holdings‘i Royal Caribbean“Healthy Candle Panel”.