The former Food and Drug Administration commissioner shared concerns that the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination will be delayed by a large number of people refusing the injection, predicting that only a third of the US population will volunteer for inoculation.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb expressed his concerns in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning, saying that many young people who are unlikely to face serious illnesses may refuse vaccination.
So far, 10.5 million Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, out of the 31 million doses distributed to states, according to the latest available data from the CDC.
Dr. Anthony Fauci estimated that up to 80 percent of the United States’ population, or about 260 million people, will need to be vaccinated to obtain collective immunity, the point at which the virus is unable to spread widely.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb expressed concerns on Tuesday that the launch of COVID-19 vaccinations will be delayed by a large number of Americans refusing the injection
“At some point, demand is going to become a problem,” Gottlieb said in the interview, noting that last fall the number of people who received the flu vaccine reached a record high but was still only 120 million.
“These were people who were concerned with getting COVID to go out and get flu shots. This could be the universe of people who really have a significant demand for a COVID vaccine, ‘he said.
“There will be a very intense demand even in the youngest cohorts, but I think that when we reach 100 million, maybe 120 million vaccines, the demand will decrease,” he added.
“We talked about access being the real challenge now, and now we are talking about supply because we are starting to reach a steady state of supply and it is difficult to increase supply in the short term,” said Gottlieb. ‘At some point, demand will become an issue.’
“We cannot lose sight of this and assume that everyone wants this vaccine,” he said.
Joseph Leblanc receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday at John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, Florida
The latest Pew Research survey on the issue indicates that 60 percent of Americans say they would definitely or probably get a coronavirus vaccine
Meanwhile, in New York state, nearly a third of nursing home workers refused to be vaccinated, the governor’s office told the New York Times.
In some areas, employees who refused the vaccine outnumbered those who were vaccinated. On Long Island, 46% decreased, while 34% were vaccinated.
The Ohio governor said earlier that a staggering 60 percent of nursing home workers in that state refused to be vaccinated.
The latest survey by Pew Research on the issue indicates that 60 percent of Americans say they would definitely or probably get a coronavirus vaccine if it were available to them today.
That rose from 51 percent who said the same thing in September. However, about four out of ten still say they would definitely or probably not get the vaccine.
About half of this reluctant group – or 18% of American adults – say it is possible that they will change their minds as soon as people start receiving the vaccine and more information is available.
President-elect Joe Biden promised to vaccinate 100 million people in his first 100 days in office.
His plan includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard to build coronavirus vaccine clinics in the United States.
The new director of Biden’s CDC said the new administration plans to bring in the military and medical students to accelerate the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky told George Stephanopoulos of Good Morning America on Tuesday morning that the CDC will hire military medical personnel, retirees and nursing and medical students to ensure that there are enough people “on the ground” to be shot. in the arms of Americans.
Walensky said they would also make the vaccine more ‘accessible’ by launching mobile vans and giving more doses to pharmacies, as she promised that the new administration would focus on ‘science’.
She did not say in the brief interview whether the government would change any of the eligibility requirements for people to receive the vaccine or leave more of the decision-making to the states.