Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Thursday warned recipients of coronavirus vaccines not to abandon their guards right away, telling CNBC to adhere to public health measures, such as wearing masks.
The former commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration said the advice is especially important for older Americans who are at higher risk of death or serious illness from Covid-19.
“I think for an older person who is vulnerable to this virus, sure … wait a certain amount of time after the second shot until you probably have full protective immunity,” Gottlieb said on “Squawk Box.” “I don’t think people should feel completely safe after the first shot.”
Both Covid vaccines that are approved by the FDA for emergency use require two doses. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech developed one of the vaccines, while Moderna makes the other. Gottlieb is on the Pfizer board.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10.3 million Americans have received their first Covid shot as of Wednesday morning. About 29.4 million doses have been distributed.
The shaky vaccine rollout is as the nation continues to see high levels of coronavirus infection and more deaths from Covid-19. The country’s seven-day average of new daily cases is 245,306, according to a CNBC analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University. On average, 3,360 Americans have died per day from Covid-19 for the past week, the second-highest number ever recorded.
Vaccine recipients still need to take public health precautions because the outbreak in the US remains so important and “infection is everywhere,” Gottlieb said. “If you are a vulnerable person, even if you have had the second injection and you think you have complete protective immunity to the vaccine, it is still very wise to continue wearing a mask and take precautions.”
“That doesn’t mean you should hibernate and not see family,” added Gottlieb, who led the FDA in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. “Maybe you can lean over in that regard but wear a mask. be more careful with those interactions, because in an environment with many common conditions you are still at risk. “
As more Americans are vaccinated against Covid-19, Gottlieb said it should lower overall U.S. infection rates and significantly limit the intensity of the epidemic. At the time, he said it would be wiser to “ relax ” some precautions.
“Hopefully that will be summer, spring, if these new variants don’t take hold here in the United States and change our trajectory,” he said, referring to the coronavirus strains initially found in the UK and South Africa. is believed to be more transferable.
Researchers in Ohio said on Wednesday they have discovered two new variants that likely originated in the US
Last week, Gottlieb warned Americans that a return to a pre-pandemic life is unlikely in 2021. For example, he told CNBC that public places still require people to have their temperature measured before entering.
“I just think things are going to be different, just like they are going to be different now when you go through an airport after 9/11,” he said last week. “I don’t think masks will be mandatory next fall and winter if we can increase vaccination coverage and if these new variants disappear or stop. But I do think a lot of people will want to wear masks, and that’s okay.”
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and serves on the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus and biotech company Illumina. He is also Co-Chair of the Healthy Sail Panel of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.