On Face the Nation a regular guest is former FDA administrator Dr. Gottlieb who currently sits on the board of Pfizer. Even though he is likely biased towards everything Pfizer, I have found him to be a great source of information regarding the pandemic in general and not just about vaccines. As of late I prefer him over Fauci because I think the country, at least the US, has had way too much Fauci for one life time. Anyway, my point, he said on Sunday something that I thought was very positive and assuring about another wave. He mentions that in one form or another about 55% of the US population has some form of protective immunity either from vaccines or prior infection and thinks that we have enough of a backstop to prevent a fourth wave. Here is part of the transcript:
MARGARET BRENNAN: When it comes to B.1.1.7, the variant first detected in the UK, Dr. Fauci said this week it's about 30% of US infections and it's, what, 50% more transmissible? It's also potentially more lethal. When you see these pictures of these spring break gatherings in Florida and elsewhere, does that make you rethink your projections here and worry about a fourth wave?
DR. GOTTLIEB: Well, I don't think we're going to have a fourth wave, I think what we're seeing around the country is parts of the country that are plateauing, and we're seeing upticks in certain parts of the country. I think the fact that we have so much prior infection, 120 million Americans have been infected with this virus, the fact that we've now vaccinated, we've gotten one shot in at least 70 million Americans, even if you account for the fact that maybe about 30% of the people being vaccinated previously had COVID, we're talking about some form of protective immunity in about 55% of the population. So there's enough of a backstop here that I don't think you're going to see a fourth surge.
The following is a transcript of an interview with former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb that aired March 21, 2021, on "Face the Nation."
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