Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned that American vaccination against Covid is more urgent than ever, especially since the new South African variant appears to be inhibiting antibody drugs.
“The South African variant is very worrying right now because it looks like it could block some of our medical drugs, especially the antibody drugs,” the former FDA chief in the Trump administration said in interview on “The News with Shepard Smith” by CNBC on Tuesday afternoon. “At the moment that snoring seems to be common in South America and Brazil, the two parts of the world that are currently in the summer, but are also suffering from disease. spread, and that is a cause for concern.
The South African variant is also called 501.V2, and in mid-December officials reported that 501.V2 had largely replaced other strains of the coronavirus as early as the year. November. South Africa has already sustained more than 1.1 million COVID-19 cases and more than 30,000 deaths, mostly on the African continent.
Gottlieb took experimental evidence from Bloom Lab, and explained that 501.V2 appears to be escaping to a pre-existing immune level. It means that some of the antibodies that people make when they get an infection with Covid, as well as the antibody drugs, may not be as effective.
“The new variant has attached part of the spike protein that our antibodies have, to try to clear the virus itself, so this is a cause for concern,” Gottlieb said. “Now, the vaccine can be a back-up against these variables gaining more traction here in the United States, but we need to accelerate the pace of vaccination.”
Director of Operation and Supply Operation Warp Speed Ret. Lt. said. Gen. Paul Ostrowski told guest Shepard Smith on December 3 that everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by June. Projections are currently falling short, however. More than 17 million doses of Covid have been distributed to states, but only 4.8 million Americans have received their first sight according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gottlieb suggested working through priority categories of people faster, expanding the number of vaccination sites, and collecting a smaller percentage of dosages to vaccinate more Americans.
“It’s really a race against time trying to get more vaccines in people’s arms before these new changes become more common here in the United States,” Gottlieb said.
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC affiliate and is a board member of Pfizer, Tempus Genetic Testing and biotechnology company Illumina. Pfizer has a manufacturing agreement with Gilead for remdesivir. Gottlieb is also co-chair of it Norwegian tour line trends′ And Royal Caribbeanand “Healthy navigation panel.”