Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Monday that he sees promising signs suggesting that Covid vaccines are effective in reducing the spread of the virus from person to person, in addition to its documented ability to protect against serious disease.
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner warned that while the initial data looks positive, there is still some uncertainty. “I think there’s a reduction in transmission. The question is, what’s the magnitude of that?” said Gottlieb, a member of Pfizer’s board of directors.
The company’s vaccine, developed alongside German pharmacist BioNTech, is one of three that have received FDA emergency use authorization. The other two are manufactured by Moderna and, more recently, by Johnson & Johnson, which received limited approval from the U.S. regulator on Saturday.
The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the trio of vaccines after individually determining that they were safe and effective in preventing recipients from developing symptomatic covid disease, especially severe and fatal cases. What has been less clear since the United States began administering shots of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in December are specific data on limiting the spread of the virus; it is one of the reasons why doctors have urged even those who have been vaccinated to continue taking precautions.
For example, in its press release announcing that the J&J vaccine received emergency use authorization, the FDA said there was no “evidence that the vaccine had SARS-CoV-2 transmission.” person to person “.
However, Gottlieb said there is reason to be optimistic that vaccines will do so, even if the “definitive study” that proves it has not yet appeared. “The accumulated evidence is very compelling that there is a reduction in transmission,” said Gottlieb, who led the FDA in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019.
He noted two studies in Israel, one of the world’s leading countries in vaccinating their population, suggesting that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will reduce the transmission of the virus. Gottlieb also said J&J found in his trial a 74% reduction in participants who developed asymptomatic infection. This finding from J&J, Gottlieb said, “is a good indication that there is a reduction in transmission.”
“I think most people agree … vaccinated people are less likely to get the infection if they get infected themselves,” Gottlieb said, adding that he expects a more definitive response “in the next month.” or two “.
Earlier Monday, in “Squawk Box,” J&J president and CEO Alex Gorsky said the company’s initial findings on the prevention of asymptomatic infection were encouraging and pointed to the possibility of putting a “significant dent.” in the Covid pandemic. “But we need to gather more. We would expect to pick it up literally in the coming months as we continue to follow these patients during the trial,” he said.
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and a member of Pfizer’s genetic testing start-up boards Tempus, health technology company Aetion and biotechnology company Illumina. He is also co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.