Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, recently told CNBC that people who get the COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t feel completely secure from the novel coronavirus after their first shot.
- “I think for an older individual who is vulnerable to this virus, certainly .. wait for a period of time after the second shot until you’re likely to have full protective immunity,” Gottlieb said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I don’t think people should feel completely secure after the first shot.”
Dr. Tamara Sheffield, Intermountain Healthcare’s medical director of community health and prevention, said on Wednesday that people are only 52% immune from COVID-19 once they get the first shot of the vaccine, according to the Deseret News. That number jumps to 95% after the second dose.
A look at the future
Gottlieb said older Americans, or those with underlying conditions, might not want to give up practicing public health precautions after they get the second shot, either.
- “Infection is everywhere,” Gottlieb said. “If you’re a vulnerable individual, even if you’ve had the second shot and you think you have full protective immunity from the vaccine, it’s still very prudent to continue to wear a mask and take precautions.”
- However, he added, “That doesn’t mean you have to hibernate and have to avoid seeing family. Maybe you can lean forward in that regard but wear a mask. Be more careful in those interactions, because in a high-prevalent environment, you’re still at risk.”
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Gottlieb said it’s more likely people will “relax” to precautions in the summer.
- “That’s hopefully going to be the summer, the spring, if these new variants don’t get a foothold here in the United States and change our trajectory,” he said.