States are easing the rules of social distancing, but it is “too early” to lift Covid’s restrictions, Dr. Atul Gawande warned on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.”
“Currently, we are at levels that are still above the highest level of our last growth, so we didn’t even go down last summer,” said the surgeon and professor at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health. . “We continue to have 2,000 deaths a day, so it’s not the level we’re in a good shape to just get to the plateau, we have to push further down.”
The US currently has a daily average of 67,365 new cases a day in the US, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data, down 73% from the peak average of about 249,000 in mid-January.
Gawande recalled concerns about the reopening, shared by Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who said she was still “deeply concerned” about the virus.
“Our recent declines appear to be stalling – at over 70,000 cases a day,” Walensky told a White House news briefing on Monday. “With these new statistics, I am really concerned about reports that several states are returning to the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from Covid-19.”
Gawande argued that the new Covid variants circulating in the US, including the latest variant circulating in New York, B.1.526, should be an additional reason for Americans to remain vigilant when it comes to coronavirus.
The CDC reports that nearly 25.5 million Americans are fully vaccinated, about 8% of the country’s population, and that due to late production, the demand for photos is at a higher level.
“I think the evidence is strong enough that giving a single shot to people who have reported being infected before would be a smart thing to do and allow more vaccinations to go to others,” Gawande said of the temporary strategy for that the current offer extends further.
Two new studies in the UK show that a single vaccine can provide “robust” protection for Covid survivors. The CDC, however, is currently debating the issue. Gawande told host Shepard Smith that he would like to see the CDC get their assessment as soon as possible.
The U.S. vaccination effort is now armed with the Johnson & Johnson shot, the third vaccine approved in its arsenal to fight Covid. The White House said Americans could start receiving the vaccine with a single injection as soon as Tuesday.
“Regarding the expected supply of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, this week we will distribute 3.9 million doses,” said Jeffrey Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator. “This is the entirety of Johnson & Johnson’s current inventory. We get these doses on the door immediately to make sure vaccines get into the arms as soon as possible.”