The following is a transcript of an interview with Dr. Scott Gottlieb which aired on Sunday, March 20, 2022 on “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: We are now joined by former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. He is also a member of the Pfizer board and joins us from Westport, Connecticut. Good morning to you, Doctor. I even stumbled upon your name. My God, I haven’t seen you in a few weeks, and now I just need to know what BA.2 means in this new variant. Do we have to worry about a wave?
DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB: Well, look, I don’t think we’re going to see a big wave of infection, but we’re going to see an increase from where we are right now. Right now, we are at very low levels of infection. We have nine cases for every 100,000 people a day. These are levels we haven’t seen since last June. There are currently about 20,000 people hospitalized. And I think we will continue to see low levels of infection during the summer. But before we get there, we will probably see an increase in infection as Europeans are seeing right now, perhaps not so pronounced. And there are indications that the UK is already reaching its peak, but some increase in infections. And that’s the result of BA.2, which is probably 30 to 50 percent more transmissible than the Omicron variant that prevailed here. In addition to lifting mitigation, people go out more, interact more, and slightly decrease immunity of people who have been strengthened for a long time or who have been infected for a long time. We rely on this immunity, this immunity is not so pronounced right now, so we will see an increase in infection. I think this will be a real test of whether or not we can live up to an appearance of normalcy and not go back to the kind of mitigation we have relied on in the past. And I don’t think we’re going to do that by protecting the vulnerable. And so far, I don’t know if we are taking all the steps we need to take to protect vulnerable people to resist this blow and potentially another increase in the coming fall.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It’s been a long time since you said you were vaccinated. Mr. Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, was on this program last week and said immunity is starting to decline four months after its injection. Many of us are there right now. How long do we wait to receive reinforcement? You know, another dose has not yet been authorized for widespread use.
GOTTLIEB: Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either, Looks like BT aint for me either, Looks like BT aint for me either. And there have been recent studies that really support it. But when it comes to protecting against symptomatic disease and infection, this starts to decrease more immediately because it depends on the circulating antibodies, which after a period of time start to decrease and are not as prominent in the blood. I think this is really a six month vaccine in terms of really significant protection against symptomatic diseases and infections. And it is likely to become an annualized vaccine for most Americans. I think for those who are vulnerable, you should consider getting a vaccine every six months while we are in a high prevalence environment, and in fact the traits are allowed for that use. For immunocompromised people, there is now authorization for a fourth booster.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Pfizer has requested reinforcement for people 65 and older, Moderna more widely. So do healthy adults need this too or just the immunocompromised?
GOTTLIEB: Yeah, I think it also depends on the environment. If we are in a low-prevalence environment, as we are likely to be this summer, I think most Americans who received three doses of vaccine will have enough protection during the summer. After all, we don’t get a flu shot in the summer, even though the flu shot only offers about six months of protection, because the flu season only lasts about six months until the fall. in winter, so don’t worry about getting a respiratory pathogen in the summer. And I think the risk will be pretty low this summer. I think after having this infection, we will go down to low levels. Looking ahead to the fall, I suspect many Americans will want to get another vaccine. You know, some people call it a fourth reinforcement. I think this vaccine is on its way to becoming an annualized vaccine, at least in the foreseeable future, until we really understand the epidemiology of this disease and understand if this coronavirus is starting to recede into the background, such as the four circulating strains of coronavirus that we have. ”I got used to having.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But I mean, you’ve been talking about it for so long that the risk of becoming this bifurcated society is where those who can go out and those who are committed or concerned about infecting family members. I have children under the age of five who are not vaccinated, so I would put myself in that category. But now there is that. There is a cost because all health restrictions are out, so choose to isolate yourself if you are taking health restrictions. What is the health of the average person? What should they do if they still wear masks?
GOTTLIEB: Look, I think if you’re vulnerable, if you’re very vulnerable to this infection in a high prevalence and prevalence environment or in an environment, if you’re entering a high-risk environment, a confined environment. interior space, there are things you can do to protect yourself in this environment. One-way masking works even if everyone else isn’t wearing a mask. If you wear a high quality mask, you will get a good degree of protection. Many people still wear masks. There are also many more therapies available now than we had better tools than we had before in this pandemic. I think it’s important to understand how you can access it.
BRENNAN: Dr. Gottlieb, thank you for your time today. We will be back soon.
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