Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned that the United States is behind on its rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, and each passing day makes the delay worse.
Gottlieb said Monday on CNBC that he expects the backlog to grow more from the 35 million vaccines already in the stockpile at the moment.
“There’s 35 million vaccines sitting on a shelf right now,” Gottlieb said. “We know 50 million vaccines are going to become available in the month of January, so we’re stockpiling as many as maybe two vaccines a day on top of the 35 million, and you know, the federal government is applauding themselves because they managed to vaccinate half a million people a day in the last three days. You’re still building up an inventory each day, and a substantial inventory, so we are way behind.”
“There’s 35 million vaccines sitting on a shelf right now…we are way behind,” says @ScottGottliebMD on COVID-19 vaccine rollout. https://t.co/1Pmj1ZeLxZ pic.twitter.com/wq7OvxFXAO
— CNBC (@CNBC) January 4, 2021
Vaccine rollout began last month, first going to healthcare workers and then beginning its rollout to vulnerable, elderly populations.
Since Dec. 13, more than 4.5 million people across the country have received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 15 million doses have been administered.
The U.S. has had over 20 million cases of COVID-19 and over 350,000 deaths attributed to the virus. With many having traveled for the holidays, health experts warn that cases may increase in the coming weeks.
