The former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner has expressed concern that the launch of COVID-19 vaccines will be slowed by a large number who refuse to shoot, predicting that only a third of the US population will volunteer for inoculation.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb expressed concern in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning, saying that many young people who are unlikely to face serious illnesses could refuse vaccination.
To date, 10.5 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, out of the 31 million doses distributed to states, according to the latest CDC data available.
Dr. Anthony Fauci estimated that up to 80% of the US population, or about 260 million people, will need to be vaccinated to get herd immunity, at which point the virus is unable to spread widely.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb expressed concern on Tuesday that the launch of COVID-19 vaccinations will be slowed by a large number of Americans who refuse to shoot
“At some point, demand will become a problem,” Gottlieb said in an interview, noting that last fall, the number of people who received a flu vaccine reached a record high, but was still only 120 million.
“These were people who were worried about getting COVID and the flu vaccines. This may be the universe of people who really have a significant demand for a COVID vaccine, ”he said.
“There will be intense demand even in younger groups, but I think that once it reaches 100 million, maybe 120 million vaccines, the demand will become easier,” he added.
“We talked about access being the real challenge right now, and now we’re talking about supply, because we’re starting to get into a steady supply state and it’s hard to increase supply in the near future,” Gottlieb said. “At some point, demand will become an issue.”
“We can’t lose sight of this and just take it for granted that everyone wants this vaccine,” he said.
Joseph Leblanc receives Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday at John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, Florida
The latest survey by Pew Research on this question 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, staff members who refused the vaccine exceeded the number of those who were vaccinated. On Long Island, 46% fell, while 34% were vaccinated.
The Ohio governor previously said that an astonishing 60 percent of asylum workers in that state refused to be vaccinated.
The latest survey by Pew Research on this question indicates that 60 percent of Americans say they would definitely or probably get a coronavirus vaccine if it were available to them today.
It rose from 51%, which said the same thing in September. However, about four in 10 still say they would or would probably not receive a vaccine.
About half of this reluctant group – or 18% of US adults – say they may change their minds once people start receiving a vaccine and more information will be available.
President-elect Joe Biden has 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 building coronavirus vaccine clinics in the United States.
Biden’s CDC director said the new administration intends to bring in military and medical students to expand the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky told George Stephanopoulos, Good Morning America, on Tuesday morning that the CDC will entrust military medical personnel, retirees and medical and nursing students to make sure there are enough people “on the ground” to get gunfire in the Americans.
Walensky said they would also make the vaccine more “accessible” by launching mobile vans and administering more doses at pharmacies, while she vowed that the administration received would focus on “science.”
She did not say in the short interview whether the government will change any of the eligibility requirements for people to receive the vaccine or whether it will leave more to the decision-making of states.