Scott Gottlieb predicted on CNBC on Monday that the US will see a significant decrease in new coronavirus infections.
“I think we’re going to see the pandemic roll out in the United States, in terms of the cases that are coming down,” Gottlieb said in an interview on Squawk Box.
However, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration warned that even if the number of new infections drops, “we will still break out in some parts of the country.”
“We are never going to virtually eliminate this virus,” Gottlieb, who led the government agency in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019, said. nation will eradicate Covid as with other diseases such as polio and smallpox.
“But I think you’re going to start to see cases fall pretty dramatically as we get in May,” said Gottlieb, who serves on Pfizer’s board, which clears one of the three Covid vaccines for emergency use in the United States. . Modern makes the other two-graft vaccine. Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine has been discontinued by the FDA due to cases of rare but serious blood clotting issues.
On Monday, the seven-day average daily new coronavirus cases in the U.S. were about 67,400, according to a CNBC analysis of the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The figure is slightly lower than a week ago, although it is an increase compared to the levels seen at the end of March and at the same level as the increase last summer.
In the US, deaths due to the disease have dropped significantly. According to CNBC’s analysis of Hopkins’ data, the average of seven days of daily new deaths in Covid was 723, which is 25% lower than a week ago.
Gottlieb said he expects a continued improvement in the pandemic landscape for two reasons. The first is hot weather, which may lead to more outdoor activities, where the risk of coronavirus transmission is lower. The second is further progress with the introduction of Covid vaccines, he said.
Every American adult was officially eligible for the coronavirus vaccine on Monday. Just over half of American adults have already received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a contributor to CNBC and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, drafting genetic tests Tempus, the healthcare company Aetion Inc. and the biotechnology company. Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings‘En Royal Caribbean‘s “Healthy Sail Panel.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.