Washington – Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Sunday suggested that the Biden administration will make more “personalized” efforts to ensure that coronavirus vaccines enter the arms of Americans in disadvantaged communities.
“I would take federal and state resources and create more customized solutions that can be used in some of the hard-to-reach environments, in some of the disadvantaged communities, whether you can move mobile vans to those communities, try to work through community groups, suppliers local, church groups, community health centers to try to vaccinate harder-to-reach populations, “Gottlieb said in an interview with” Face the Nation. “” It’s a very difficult effort. Is expensive. It is a personalized effort. “
Gottlieb, who has led the FDA for nearly two years under former President Donald Trump, said the new administration “takes a comprehensive approach” to vaccine distribution, from supporting vaccination sites to sending vaccine doses directly to retail pharmacies. But he warned against allocating too many federal resources to mass vaccination sites, because Americans who go there to get their COVID-19 vaccines can probably be served by pharmacies in Walmart, Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens.
“I would direct federal resources to such a mission and let Walmart handle the easy demand and Rite Aid,” he said of reaching out to disadvantaged communities.
While the Biden administration has taken steps to speed up the pace of vaccine administration, Gottlieb and other public health experts have highlighted new variants of coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil amplify the need for Americans to be vaccinated as soon as possible. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are approximately 1,000 reported cases of British strain, B.1.1.7, in 39 states and more than a dozen reported cases of the South African variant, B.1.351, in at least five states.
The emergence of new variants has led vaccine manufacturers, such as Pfizer and Moderna, to start developing new booster vaccines to address them. Gottlieb said drug manufacturers should decide when to start transferring their production to the booster by July and August.
“You don’t want to throw all the eggs in that basket, but you want to create a supply that you will have in the fall if you need these vaccines,” he said. “So, I think that’s where you’re going to make that decision. The time to start the manufacturing process and to actually get the finished vaccine is about two months. So if you start manufacturing in July, you will start taking the vaccine off the line in time for the fall. “
While US drug manufacturers are working to protect against new coronavirus strains, UK officials have decided to continue administering a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, although it has been shown to be less effective at first. lawsuits against the South African variant.
Gottlieb said he understands the decision to continue using Oxford / AstraZeneca photography because it is cheap, affordable and can be stored more easily. But he suggested there be a “plan B” of another photo to be sent to regions where the South African version is becoming the dominant strain.
“If you introduce a vaccine in those markets that we know does not cover B.1.351, the South African version, very well, if there is none, you run the risk of being able to select that variant in those markets,” he said. said. “So you need a plan B on what vaccine you will implement in those regions if, in fact, B.1.351 becomes predominant in those regions after you get vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.”