April 11 (UPI) – Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and current board member of Pfizer, said on Sunday that vaccine offerings in the United States will soon exceed demand.
Gottlieb told CBS News’ Face the nation that the United States should stick to its plan to deliver doses to states based on population, as it expects supply to exceed demand within three weeks.
“I think a lot of states will see themselves with oversupply and redundant appointments. So it will be a shame to look back in hindsight and realize that we probably should have put more vaccine in some of these hot spots to snort them. , ‘he said.
The United States has reported a total of 31,189,567 COVID-19 cases and 562,059 deaths since the onset of the pandemic as of Sunday – both the highest totals in the world – while 66,533 infections and 709 fatalities were reported from Saturday, according to the data collected. by Johns Hopkins University. The nation has also administered a total of 183,467,709 vaccine doses, with 35.3% of the population receiving at least one dose and 21.3% fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gottlieb’s comments came amid a spate of virus cases in Michigan as the state, which does not report COVID-19 data on Sunday, counted 6,892 new cases and 74 deaths on Saturday, after reporting 7,834 cases on Friday for a total of 738,023 cases and 16,500 cases since the start of the pandemic.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday Face the nation has asked the White House to provide the state with additional vaccines to combat the wave and has asked the state to take a two-week “break”, including urging high schools to provide in-person lessons, youth sports and indoor dining and suspend meetings.
“At this point we know we have an even greater capacity. We could get more vaccines in weapons. And when there is a wave, we think it’s important that we rush to meet where the need is, because what’s happening today. happens in Michigan, what would happen tomorrow in other states, “Whitmer said.
Gottlieb said the White House should get into the habit of sending COVID-19 assets to hotspots.
“They never knew there was going to be a confluent national epidemic, but there would be local outbreaks,” he said. “In fact, that’s probably what we’ll see in the future. We won’t see a converging epidemic, but we will see those hot spots, so we have to get into the habit of trying to increase resources in those hot spots to keep those scattered fires. to extinguish. “
Elsewhere, Los Angeles opened vaccination appointments for residents 16 and older as the state prepares to expand vaccine eligibility to those in that group.
California reported 4,954 new cases and 105 deaths on Sunday, noting that it includes cases from previous months that had not been counted. Since the start of the pandemic, California has led the nation with 3,600,178 cases and 59,218 deaths.
To date, California has administered 22,777,893 vaccine doses with 6,294,860 fully vaccinated people.
Texas ranks second in cases with 2,422,139 since the start of the pandemic, along with 48,211 deaths after reporting 1,516 new cases and 26 fatalities on Sunday. The state administered 14,312,547 vaccine doses with 5,613,265 fully vaccinated people.
Third in Florida reported 5,520 new infections and seven resident deaths on Sunday, bringing the total to 2,124,233 cases and 34,021 resident deaths. Florida administered 11,161,697 vaccine doses with 4,400,166 fully vaccinated people.
New York ranks fourth in the nation with 1,949,964 cases and second in 51,036 deaths since the start of the pandemic, as it added 6,764 new positive tests and 53 deaths Sunday. New York administered 11,811,282 doses of vaccine and 4,871,118 people have been fully vaccinated.
Illinois has the nation’s fifth-highest number of COVID-19 cases with 1,279,772, along with 21,505 fatalities, including 2,942 infections and 16 deaths on Sunday. A total of 7,047,326 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the state and 2,853,739 people have been fully vaccinated.