Washington – Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said Sunday that an increase in coronavirus infections among young people is causing new outbreaks in some states, but does not believe there will be a “true” fourth wave of pandemic.
“What we’re seeing are bags of infection across the country, especially in younger people who haven’t been vaccinated and also in school-age children,” Gottlieb said in an interview with Face the Nation, which went note the increase in cases among school-age children in Michigan, Minnesota and Massachusetts.
“You see outbreaks in schools and infections in social cohorts that had not been exposed to the virus before, maybe they were doing a better job of hosting, they are now out and exposed to the virus and getting infected,” he continued. “The infection is changing its contours in terms of who is being affected by it right now.”
With coronavirus cases on the rise in 27 states and the District of Columbia, public health officials are urging Americans to stay alert following mitigation measures. But as the vaccination rate continues to accelerate, 4 million doses were administered on Friday alone — and about 130 million Americans have already contracted COVID-19, Gottlieb said the level of immunity in the United States should to lead a fourth wave of pandemic.
As of Saturday, more than 104 million Americans have received at least one dose of their coronavirus vaccine, while 59.8 million Americans are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“You have about 200 million Americans who already have some level of immunity,” he said. “I think there is enough immunity in the population to not see a real fourth wave of infection.”
Although more young people become infected with COVID-19, Gottlieb said he does not believe schools should close their doors to face-to-face learning, but should be safer to combat the spread of the virus.
“I think we need to follow strict mitigation in schools, in schools that use masks, in schools that can implement some kind of distancing, as an epidemiologist referred this week, go to‘ Harry Potter Complete ’and try keeping students within defined social cohorts so they don’t get mixed up in large groups, ”he said. “If you take these measures in schools, I think schools can be made safer and I think the benefits of being in school outweigh the risks. But we need to be aware that schools are a risk factor, the children are vulnerable to infection and schools can become a focus of community outreach if we are not careful. “
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines are licensed for adults over the age of 18, while the Pfizer vaccine is approved for people up to 16 years of age. shots in young children.
Pfizer announced last week in a study of 2,260 American volunteers between the ages of 12 and 15 that their vaccine was found to be safe and demonstrated 100% effectiveness. Gottlieb is a board member of Pfizer.
Vaccination of children will be crucial for the reopening of schools and to help the U.S. achieve herd immunity, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, said Friday that he believes there may be enough information. to be able to safely vaccinate children of any age at the end of the year.
Gottlieb said he believes the FDA could authorize the Pfizer emergency vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 in time to have it available before the start of the school year, but warned that it could spend more time before children under 12 are approved to get their shots.
“I think we will be in a position to vaccinate 12 years or more before the fall,” he said. “I think younger may take longer because you want to try many different doses to try to find the lowest possible dose that still provides a robust immune response to children.”
Although public health officials warn Americans not to give up guidelines with rising coronavirus infections, families continue to travel for the spring break and the Transportation Safety Administration has reported of an increase in airport reviews.
Gottlieb encouraged health officials to issue guidelines that will be largely followed by the public, but said it is important that they ask for caution.
“You don’t want to be so at odds with the aspirations and where the audience is and where the audience will be dedicated so that the guidelines are just ignored. You have to post the guidelines in the context of the content of the audience willing to do so.” he said.
Still, Gottlieb stressed that the United States remains in a “high-prevalence environment” with the circulation of new coronavirus variants.
“We don’t want to be in a position where we are expanding the epidemic because we weren’t cautious about the steps we were taking right now,” he said. “That said, people sense that there is less risk in general. As people get vaccinated, they feel they have less risk and they are, depending on the vaccination. So they are willing to start participating in the things that That’s why we have to acknowledge that and I think they will issue guidelines so that people can conform to their aspirations, who want to see the family again. Start socializing. They want to start traveling a little bit. “