Former FDA Chief Warns US Will “Struggle” To Reach Herd Immunity As Vaccine Refusals Rise

by | Apr 15, 2021 | Headline News | 20 comments

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    This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.

    Across the developing world, 130 countries have yet to receive even a single dose of any of the COVID vaccines, while the US stockpiles hundreds of millions of doses as the Biden Administration announces ever more ambitious targets, currently 200MM jabs in arms by the end of his First 100 Days (which will formally expire at the end of April).

    So far, the US has managed its vaccine rollout efficiently relative to the EU, though Washington, unfortunately, didn’t manage to avoid the safety scandals that unfolded in Europe with the AstraZeneca jab. Now that federal regulators have raised questions about the safety of the Johnson & Johnson jab, it looks like the entire adenovirus platform is now suspect (which is truly unfortunate for the developing world, since they were the ones who were supposed to get those vaccines).

    Dr. Scott Gottlieb

    According to the latest numbers from Bloomberg, 195MM doses have been distributed in the US already, putting Biden well on track to meet his 200M shot goal.

    The US vaccination rate is 3,346,301 doses per day, on average. At this pace, it will take another 3 months to cover 75% of the US population, according to Bloomberg. But some have other ideas. And only 23% of the US population is currently fully vaccinated.

    But as we look at the projections for herd immunity…

    …at least one former senior public-health figure – former FDA Director Scott Gottlieb – believes the real obstacle might be compliance, despite all those polls proclaiming public confidence in the vaccines has never been higher. Especially as the new questions about potential side effects, and anecdotal reports of the sometimes dayslong post-vaccination symptoms experienced by many, a large number of younger Americans may simply refuse the vaccine.

    Seeing as he’s a board member of Pfizer, and in theory, this should make him a natural cheerleader for the vaccine effort, it’s worth listening to what Gottlieb is saying since it clashes with the administration’s official position.

    And Gottlieb is saying that the US is reaching a point where supply will outstrip demand.

    One in 4 Americans would refuse a coronavirus vaccine if offered, a recent NPR/Marist poll found. Another 5% are “undecided” about whether they would get the shot. And some researchers are growing worried that this reluctance will be enough to prevent the nation from reaching what’s known as herd immunity.

    A former head of the Food and Drug Administration also has doubts about reaching herd immunity, the point at which the virus can no longer spread easily through the population. Gottlieb, who is on the board of Pfizer, one of the biggest makers of the vaccines, according to NPR’s Morning Edition, which invited Gottlieb for a recent interview.

    More than 123 million people, or about 37% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who was FDA commissioner from 2017 to 2019, says the nation is reaching a point where supply will outstrip demand. Gottlieb is on the board of directors of Pfizer, which makes one of the coronavirus vaccines.

    “I think that there’s probably 150 million Americans who are eager to get vaccinated. And as we expand into the younger age cohorts and a new eligible population … you’re not going to see the demand be as brisk,” Gottlieb says in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition.

    “I think we get to 150 million vaccines. I think we struggle to get to 160 million,” he says, which is roughly half the U.S. population. “Beyond that, I think it’s going to be difficult. I’m not sure that you have the demand there.”

    But it’s not as bad as that sounds.

    “I don’t know that we ever get to herd immunity,” Gottlieb says. “But I think the combination of vaccinating that many people and having a lot of immunity in the population from prior infections, [is] enough that the level of spread of this virus is going to be substantially reduced.”

    Despite revelations about rare blood clots tied to the J&J jab, Gottlieb said he expects the pause to be short. The reality, of course, is that the global rollout can’t afford to scrap the adenovirus-vector jabs, so patients with low platelet counts may need to make their own decisions. The official US government line is that the risks of vaccine side effects are far outweighed by their benefits.

    “I think this is probably a temporary pause where the agency is going to evaluate the information it has, see if there is more cases out there to be reported into the agency, perhaps issue some guidance around the use of the vaccine and what doctors should be alert for and then allow the vaccine to continue to be distributed,” he says.

    He adds, “I think it’s more likely than not that there’s going to be a resumption in the use of the vaccine for some portion of the population. That should be reassuring to the public.”

    To be sure, Dr. Gottlieb believes the US will reach herd immunity, and soon. But he also suspects that COVID likely won’t be going away any time soon. Already, cases have surged worldwide over the past month, and numbers are rising even in India.

    Of course, herd immunity is a nebulous concept, and projections can vary widely. One Professor at Johns Hopkins penned a WSJ editorial earlier this year claiming herd immunity would arrive by April, and that rising case numbers can be dismissed as deaths continue to decline. “Experts should level with the public,” he said.

    Already, at least 7 states – South Dakota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, and Tennessee – are already on the cusp of herd immunity. The real answer, of course, is that projections can vary widely – and nobody knows what the future may hold.

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      20 Comments

      1. Pressuring those that refuse, hmm, what could go wrong? The level of dis-information being disseminated is of biblical proportions. Let’s keep everybody scared, where your best defense is a piece of paper over your mouth!! I will refuse to death that poison.

        • @CHRISTOPHER MARTEL
          Well said! I will also NEVER take that garbage!!!

        • The whole thing is bullsh pulled from fresh new pile. No such thing as “covid-19”, no such thing as transmissible viruses the way medical germ theory frames it, none of this is about anything medical, although “b’cuz public health medical blah blah” is being used as the narrative medium. Seriously, this whole thing is global communism/ ZOGism one group of satanic toadies fighting for control over another group of satanic toadies. Question why they are targeting Jesus-following Christians! Out of all the peoples, only they remain of the old ‘moral majority’ that conserved human-centric morality and ethical conduct of society as a whole. So if those types are being targeted for extinction, then it begs the question of what will fill that vacuum. We see Vatican ecumenicism creating the NWR (New World Religion). That religion does not value our Creator LORD God’s laws, ways, or processes. If understanding and mindset of Torah is eliminated, then humanity is f’ed in very short order. We already know the NWO’s values and treatment of humanity.

        • Don’t worry, the coming mass starvation is going to level the playing field – everything will be just fine. That is until the power grids experience a minor glitch , go off-line, at which point we will have cascading nuclear power plant failures/meltdowns/radiological volcanoes erupting uncontrollably, and finally, man will have something important to think about and discuss…

      2. “projections can vary widely and nobody knows what the future may hold”
        I would say that’s especially true when the ones giving us the “data”/”numbers” are the same ones who wish to continue this scamdemic going forever and will lie and use “creative” math/data to achieve that goal?

      3. I can’t believe we’re all still here in the comments section after more than a year of covid killing everyone!
        How I am even typing this comment is a mystery to me since the phantom menace known as covid has most likely already killed me.? Oh well, may I continue resting in peace.?????

      4. I, too, am prepared to die rather than give into this. Unfortunately, I live in Michigan, so this may soon be a reality (at least for me). Christians who believe this is the ‘mark’ will be targeted and not given religious exemptions. They are already targeting churches who are ‘daring’ to meet during the lockdowns and/or without masks (like mine).

      5. “Former FDA Chief Warns US … ”

        Coming from a person in which NONE of these “vaccines” are FDA approved! Yet, this guy wonders why people have concerns.

      6. Hey AI, 5 thousand plus word comments serve no purpose, most of us are already well informed and have opinions. The key to making a good comment is to be brief, stay on topic, make it interesting, and make a point. Your not doing anything like this therefore your comments aren’t being read. Rather it’s turning people off to this site. Most of us don’t see your comments rational, we see them as rants because you just bounce from one unconnected thought to another. Since no one has the time anyway to read your comments you must be spending all your time making them. Lighten up.

        • You make some good points Bill, But im sick and tired of idiots inside the the truther community attacking each other ! Don’t read it if you dont like it

          • It’s not about skipping over it or not reading it. It’s so LONG the rest of the comments get drowned out. I had to scroll 20 times to get past it.. screw that.. most people will just give up

          • Anon – Am not attacking anyone, but same goes for you too, if you don’t like my comment don’t read it.

      7. “I am definitely more intelligent, qualified, credible, and honest than the psychos”

        That remark is very much debatable, considering most of your post are nothing but copy & paste information.
        There is nothing intelligent about that.
        There is nothing qualifying about your expertise – you’ve given none.
        Credibility is a single person bias acceptance.
        Your honesty is open for discussion.
        Your personal psychosis is off the charts, and not in a good way.

      8. According to Fauci, you can still get Covid after taking the jab. So, what does the “non FDA approved” experimental chemical cocktail actually do for you other than provide a risk for a nasty injury or death?

      9. He’s been here a lot longer Mr. Anonymous then all of us, braveheart gone, others as well. He may rant and rave but he’s honest, not afraid. Yes he should tone it done but who are we to say so.

        • Very well. Good luck

      10. Herd immunity, or herd mentality ? For the former, natural immunity is the best immunity. That will come all by itself. As for the later, lets hope we dont have too much of it. All we need to do is stand our ground. Dont give in. I dont need air travel or sports arenas as much as my health and right over my own body. And there are too many of us who feel the same. If we dont give in to their fear mongering and threats of exclusion, we win.

      11. They’ll scour, here-and-there for talking points. So, public dialogue helps them sharpen their repertoire.

        But, one mental image, that has stuck with me, is Gates taking apart and reconstructing a plastic model of dna, by hand, while saying how it does *not make you a gmo.

        Maybe, you should censor that. (Purple sweater.)

      12. Hate to admit it but the truth is that without the comments by Andrea.Iravani. this site just wouldn’t feel the same.
        As makeready mentioned,
        perhaps shorten the comments just a tad but otherwise it is not up to us.
        We should all feel free to speak our minds.?

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