Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb took aim at the federal government on Friday for allegedly withholding Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine.
“They are being throttled, and I think the government has admitted they’re doing that,” Gottlieb said in a morning interview on MSNBC. “In part, they say they want to hold back a second dose for everyone who receives a first dose. I think that’s not the right decision. I think they should be leaning forward and trying to get more doses in people now and have some confidence that the manufacturing is going to keep up.”
Several governors complained this week that their states were not receiving shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine that they had expected, including those in Florida, Illinois, and Washington. Pfizer said in a Thursday statement that “millions” of doses of the vaccine were available, but that it had not received shipping orders from the federal government.
Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner from 2017-19 and who presently sits on Pfizer’s board, said he believed the feds were trying to “manage” the supply, noting the Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged that 7 million doses of the vaccine were on hand.
“By the end of this weekend, there will be many more than that,” Gottlieb said. “They could be shipping many more than they are. I think they’re trying to manage the supply chain. I think they’re trying to get Moderna and Pfizer to parity. I think they might be concerned that if they stuff too much vaccine into the supply chain, some of it could go unused, perhaps.
“I don’t know exactly what their thinking is,” he added. “This is what I would be speculating as to why they are doing that. My advice would be try to get as many shots in arms now as possible, because we’re at the peak of the epidemic right now, or entering the peak.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said Wednesday he believed the reduction meant it would take much longer for Americans to receive the vaccine than estimates originally suggested.
“This development will likely cut our state’s projected Pfizer shipments this month by roughly half,” Pritzker said. “The same is true across the rest of the nation.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
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Scott Gottlieb Whacks Feds for Withholding Pfizer Vaccine - Mediaite
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