The former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration has shared concerns that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations will be delayed by large numbers refusing the shot, and predicts that only one-third of the U.S. population will volunteer for vaccination.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb expressed concern in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning, saying that many younger people who are unlikely to have serious illness may refuse to get vaccinated.
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 has estimated that up to 80 percent of the US population, or about 260 million people, will need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, the point where the virus cannot spread widely.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Tuesday expressed concern that the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations will be delayed as large numbers of Americans refuse the shot
“At some point, the question is going to become an issue,” Gottlieb said in the interview, noting that last fall the number of people getting a flu vaccine hit an all-time high, but was still only 120 million.
Those were people who were concerned that COVID would go out and get flu vaccines. That might be the universe of people who are in really high demand for a COVID vaccine, ‘he said.
“There will be high demand even in younger cohorts, but I think once we have 100 million, maybe 120 million vaccines, the demand will get soft,” he added.
“We’ve talked about access being the real challenge right now, and now we’re talking supply because we’re starting to get stable supply and it’s difficult to increase supply in the short term,” said Gottlieb. “At some point, the question will become a problem.”
“We must not lose sight of that and just assume that everyone wants this vaccine,” he said.
Joseph Leblanc receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, Florida Tuesday
Pew Research’s latest poll on the question indicates that 60 percent of Americans say they would definitely or likely 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, there were more staff who refused the vaccine than those who were vaccinated. On Long Island, 46 percent fell, while 34 percent were vaccinated.
The Ohio governor previously said that as many as 60 percent of nursing home workers in that state refused to be vaccinated.
Pew Research’s latest poll on the question indicates that 60 percent of Americans say they would definitely or likely get a coronavirus vaccine if it were available to them today.
That was more than 51 percent who said the same thing in September. However, about four in ten still say they definitely or probably wouldn’t receive a vaccine.
About half of this reluctant group – or 18 percent of American adults – say it’s possible they would change their mind once people get a vaccine and more information becomes available.
President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to vaccinate 100 million people in his first 100 days in office.
His plan includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard to build coronavirus vaccine clinics in the United States.
Biden’s incoming CDC director has said the new government plans to bring in military and medical students to ramp up the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday morning that the CDC will deploy military medical personnel, retirees and nurses, and medical students to make sure there are enough people “ on the ground ” to shoot the Americans in the arms.
Walensky said they will also make the vaccine more ‘accessible’ by launching mobile vans and giving more pharmacy doses, promising incoming administration will focus on ‘the science’.
She did not say in the short interview whether the government would change the admission requirements for people to receive the vaccine, or whether it would leave more of the decision-making to states.