Former FDA commissioner suggests some coronavirus vaccine doses could be available in the fall


Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottleib has repeatedly said life in the United States won't truly be back to normal until a novel COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine is widely available. The most optimistic sources say that likely won't be for another 12 to 18 months, but in the meantime, Gottleib said, there could be some instances where limited doses could be accessible.
During a Sunday appearance on CBS' Face the Nation, Gottleib told host Margaret Brennan that if the coronavirus mounts a comeback in a specific U.S. city in the fall, there may be a protocol in which at least some of the potentially hundreds of thousands of doses of trial vaccines produced for testing could be provided to people. He said that wouldn't be the case for a national epidemic similar to the current situation, but the hope is that with a better understanding of how to combat the virus, epidemics will be more constrained should a second wave hit.
Gottleib also said there's a good chance China could beat the U.S. to the market with a vaccine, though he doesn't seem to be a big fan of what Beijing is tinkering with.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplace
The explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime minister
Speed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
The 5 best mob movies of all time
The Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the right
Speed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
The new Stratus Covid strain – and why it’s on the rise
The Explainer ‘No evidence’ new variant is more dangerous or that vaccines won’t work against it, say UK health experts
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shot
Speed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreak
Speed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agency
Speed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts