Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has criticized the government for withholding seven million doses of Pfizer vaccine as secondary doses.
Gottlieb has called on the government to vaccinate as much as possible now with the first dose, which provides some defense against the coronavirus on its own and is confident that Pfizer will prepare the second dose on time.
“They (Pfizer) are being strangled and I think the government has acknowledged that they are doing this. They are holding back doses, ‘said Gottlieb, who led the Food and Drug Administration from 2017 to April 2019 and is now on Pfizer’s board of directors.
The drug company delivered three million doses as of Thursday, but the Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged that they still have seven million doses of vaccine in storage, which were retained as secondary doses.
Gottlieb said leaving doses in warehouses, while cases, deaths and hospitalizations hit record highs in America, “is not the right decision.”
He argued that there should be “confidence” that production would keep pace with the need for people to receive a second vaccine and that it would be “much more valuable from a public health point of view” to get vaccinated as soon as possible. many people now.
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb weighed in on the distribution of the vaccine, which hit the government for preventing Pfizer strikes in states, saying “it’s not the right decision” while “we’re at the top of the epidemic.”
“I think they should lean forward and try to get more doses in people now and have some confidence that production will keep up,” Mediaite reports.
“The 25 million doses that (Pfizer) promised for December have been largely manufactured and many more are being released – I mean ready to be shipped than those that are actually shipped,” he said. he.
“It simply came to our notice then. I think he’s trying to manage the supply chain. I think he’s trying to make Moderna and Pfizer equal. I think they might be worried that if they put too much vaccine in the supply chain, maybe some of them could go unused.
“I don’t know exactly what their thinking is,” he added. “It simply came to our notice then.
My advice would be to try to get as many gunshots as possible now, because we are at the peak of the epidemic right now or we are entering the peak. And we know that these vaccines are partially protected even after the first dose.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses taken 21 days apart, with the individual having almost complete protection after the second dose. However, the vaccine also offers some protection after only the first dose.
Meanwhile, the US reached another grim record for hospitalizations on Friday, just days after the nation recorded its deadliest day since the pandemic began.
Gottlieb, who led the Food and Drug Administration from 2017 to April 2019 and is now on Pfizer’s board of directors, accused the government of “restricting” supplies to US states and said it would be more efficient to get “as much as possible.” more gunshots “possible now
The former FDA chief added that more people vaccinated now would be better for the public, as infections, hospitalizations and deaths rise to record levels in all states.
“A vaccination this week will be much more valuable in terms of public health than a vaccination in five weeks,” he said.
So I would try to vaccinate more people than there are and as many people as possible now.
“If we can get more doses to people right now, you can start to have an impact on the epidemic we’re going through.”
On Thursday, Pfizer issued a statement saying it had successfully delivered 2.9 million doses to US states, but that it still had “millions of doses in our warehouse.
“But so far, we have not received any shipping instructions for additional doses,” said the health giant.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses taken 21 days apart, with the individual having almost complete protection after the second dose. However, the vaccine also offers some protection after only the first dose
Respiratory care doctor David Hamlin receives a dose of Pfizer vaccine at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madeira, California on Wednesday
Senior administration officials did not deny the allegations, saying the statement was technically correct, but that it had been the plan all along, so that anyone who received the first jab would receive the second.
Federal officials said Pfizer has pledged to deliver 6.4 million doses of the vaccine in the first week after approval.
But Operation Federal Warp Speed planned to distribute only 2.9 million of those doses immediately with another 2.9 million to be kept in the Pfizer warehouse to ensure that people vaccinated in the first week will be able to get the second shot later.
The government also has an additional 500,000 doses in reserve against unforeseen problems.
Pfizer said it remains confident it can deliver up to 50 million doses globally this year and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
Several states complained this week that they received fewer shipments of vaccine than expected and also expected much lower doses next week, raising concerns about possible delays for health care workers and residents of the United States. long-term care to be vaccinated against the deadly virus.
Pfizer said Thursday that it has “millions of doses” of COVID-19 vaccine in storage, but is still awaiting dispatch instructions from the federal government. Above, workers prepare the vaccine for shipment
Boxes containing the Pfizer vaccine are ready to be shipped to the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo plant. Government officials then denied that this was the plan over time to ensure that people who receive the first jab can also receive the second recall jab.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday he feared many Americans would not receive blows until some time after the official calendar.
“This development is likely to reduce our state-designed Pfizer shipments by about half this month,” Pritzker said.
“The same is true of the rest of the nation.”
On Friday, the FDA authorized the distribution of a second COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, granting emergency approval of the Moderna jab, which is 94% effective.
Prior to its approval, officials allocated and prepared 5.9 million doses of the shot to be sent to states next week.
The expeditions could start tomorrow, with the first blows starting on Monday.
The first Americans received the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.
New York’s intensive care assistant Sandra Lindsay became the first person in the United States to receive the vaccine on Monday as part of the first phase of the launch of health care workers.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been vaccinated since then, health workers and residents of nursing homes and long-term care the first to receive the vaccine now.
The second phase is expected to begin in January 2021 and will include essential non-medical workers, people with chronic conditions and people over the age of 50.
The latter will receive young adults and children in the spring of 2021.
Hospitalizations reached record levels on Friday with 114,751 patients across America, according to the COVID follow-up project.
Cases also rose by 228,825 in a single day, while another 2,751 people died.
