Washington – Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, dr. Scott Gottlieb, on Sunday suggested that the administration of Biden undertake more ‘tailoring’ to ensure that coronavirus vaccines are in the arms of Americans in communities that are not under service.
“I take in the federal resources and the state resources and create more custom solutions that can be used in some of the hard to reach environments, some of the underserved communities, or bring your mobile pickups into the communities, try to work through community groups, local providers , church groups, community health centers to try to vaccinate populations that are more difficult to reach, “Gottlieb said in an interview with Face the Nation. “It’s a very difficult endeavor. It’s expensive. It’s a tailor-made effort. ‘
Gottlieb, who has led the FDA for nearly two years under former President Donald Trump, said the new government is taking an overall approach “to the distribution of vaccines, from supporting vaccination sites to sending vaccine doses to retail pharmacies. But he warned of devoting too much federal resources to mass vaccination sites, because Americans who go there to get their COVID-19 shots could likely be served by pharmacies at Walmart, Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens.
“I’m going to turn federal resources toward that kind of mission and get Walmart off the easy question and Rite Aid,” he said, reaching out to inferior communities.
While the Biden government has taken steps to speed up the pace of vaccine administration, Gottlieb and other public health experts have stressed that new coronavirus variants first identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil increase the need for Americans to do so. be vaccinated as quickly as possible. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1,000 cases of the British strain, B.1.1.7, have been reported in 39 states, and more than a dozen cases of the South African variant, B.1.351, have been reported. at least five states.
The emergence of the new variant has led to vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer and Moderna starting to develop new booster vaccines to address it. Gottlieb said drug manufacturers should decide by July and August to start shifting their production to amplifiers.
“You do not want to throw all your eggs in the basket, but you do want to create a stock that you will have on hand in the fall if you need the vaccines,” he said. “So I think this is about the point where you are going to make the decision. The time to start the manufacturing process and to get the final vaccine off the line is about two months. If you start manufacturing in July, you will start getting the vaccine off the line in time for autumn. ‘
While drugmakers in the US are working on shots that are protected against the new coronavirus strains, UK officials have decided to continue administering a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, although earlier it turns out that it is not so effective trials against the South African variant.
Gottlieb said he understands the decision to continue with the Oxford / AstraZeneca shot, as it can be stored cheaply, accessible and easier. But he suggested that there is a ‘plan B’ of another shot to send to regions where the South African variant becomes the dominant tribe.
“If you import a vaccine into the markets that we know do not cover B.1.351, the South African variant is very good, if you have any risk that you can opt for that variant in those markets,” he said. . said. “And so you need a plan B on what vaccine you are going to put in those regions if B.1.351 is common in those regions after you have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.”