Nursing homes should see ‘some indication’ of vaccines taking effect ‘as early as this week’, says Gottlieb

Nursing homes should see ‘some indication’ of vaccines taking effect ‘as early as this week’, says Gottlieb

by

Former Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that nursing homes where vaccinations for COVID-19 began will likely begin to see a reduction in rates of new cases within days.

In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” program, Gottlieb noted that vaccines usually take about a week to take effect and provide immunity to viruses and said that as a result, many long-term care centers for the elderly would see their numbers start to fall soon.

“We will begin to see some indication that vaccines are likely to have an effect as early as this week, because we know that immunity begins about a week after vaccination,” said Gottlieb. “This will start to have an impact on mortality trends with COVID, but it is coming at the end of the season.”

He noted that elderly patients have a more urgent need for a second dose of the vaccine to provide full immunity to the virus, while younger patients showed stronger immunity after just one dose.

The rate at which the first dose was dispensed, however, Gottlieb said on Sunday, was slower than the authorities expected.

“The pace is slower than what has been declared. I think it is probably realistic to think that the pace will be a little slower, especially as we try to pass through difficult to vaccinate populations next month,” he told hostess Margaret Brennan .

“I suspect there are more than a million vaccinees. There is a delay in reporting. But the idea that we will reach 20 million vaccines, vaccinations by the end of the year, is probably unrealistic at this point,” Gottlieb continued.

State officials, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen WhitmerGretchen WhitmerSunday shows the preview: relief from COVID-19 awaiting Trump’s signature; government continues vaccine deployment in Michigan to reopen high schools, in-house entertainment amid stabilizing coronavirus rates Michigan restores moratorium related to water shutdown pandemic (D), have criticized the federal government for delays in the distribution process of the COVID-19 vaccine in recent days, calls that resulted in the logistics officer responsible for the implantation, Army General Gustave Perna, apologizing for a “lack of communication “which he said resulted in states being told they would receive more doses of the vaccine than were actually available.

“I accept responsibility for the communication failure,” said Perna last Saturday. “So, to the governors and the governor’s teams; please accept my personal apologies. If this has been disturbing in your decision-making and in your conversations with the people of your great state, I will work hard to correct this.”

.Source