Former FDA head says US could 'turn the corner' in 3 weeks on Delta variant outbreak



Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under the Trump administration, says that the U.S. could "turn the corner" over the next three weeks in COVID-19's latest concerning Delta variant outbreak.

What are the details?

According to a Forbes report on Monday, Gottlieb — who also sits on Pfizer's board — warned that the coronavirus' resurgence across the country is probably more widespread than what's being reported, but he believes that could mean that the U.S. is turning the corner on the latest Delta variant outbreak.

"I believe there's more virus than we're picking up right now," Gottlieb said on Sunday's "Face the Nation," basing his theory on the Delta variant's trajectory in the United Kingdom — which he says is about three to four weeks ahead of the U.S. in terms of the infection rate.

"If you look at the U.K. in the last seven days, they do appear to be turning the corner," he continued. "It's unclear whether that's going to be sustained [since] they just lifted a lot of the mitigation they had in place, but if the U.K. is any guide, we are perhaps further into this epidemic and hopefully going to turn a corner in the next two or maybe three weeks."

Gottlieb in his remarks also advised vaccinated Americans to mask up against the spread of the contagious Delta variant.

Forbes reports 350,000 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. over the past week, a 172% jump from just two weeks ago and the highest levels since April.

Gottlieb says U.S. likely "much further in this epidemic than we're picking up www.youtube.com

What else?

In a Monday interview with "Squawk Box," Gottlieb added, "I think the more observable trend is what's going on in the United Kingdom, where cases are clearly coming down at this point. There's a very clear trend down. It seems like they've peaked."

While that may be encouraging, Gottlieb warned that the country might face challenges as such a timeline coincides with the reopening of schools for the 2021-22 school year.

“We'll be turning a corner right at the point that schools start to reopen, and my concern is that schools reopening could cause sort of a second bump in cases, or could look like a pattern where you start to see a decline and then it levels out because the reopening of the schools becomes a source of local transmission, and we don't quite get out of it as quickly as we would've," he said. “That remains to be seen."

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell urges Americans to get vaccinated ASAP — or risk another shutdown



Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is imploring unvaccinated Americans to get the COVID-19 shot or risk repeating last year's shutdown.

What are the details?

On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that McConnell urged Americans to ignore what he said was "demonstrably bad advice" from pundits and proponents of an anti-vaccine agenda.

During his weekly Capitol Hill news conference, McConnell said, "If there is anybody out there willing to listen: Get vaccinated. These shots need to get in everybody's arms as rapidly as possible or we're going to be back in a situation in the fall that we don't yearn for — that we went through last year. This is not complicated."

McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, added that it "never occurred" to him that "we'd have difficulty getting Americans to get the shot."

He tweeted a video of his remarks, and captioned it, "Get vaccinated! These shots need to get into arms as rapidly as possible, or else we're gonna be back in a situation this fall like what we went through last year."

At the time of this reporting, the video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

Get vaccinated!These shots need to get into arms as rapidly as possible, or else we're gonna be back in a situati… https://t.co/OKc8fwnkR8

— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) 1626811730.0

What else?

Last week, McConnell made similar remarks during last week's conference, saying, "I'm perplexed by the difficulty we have in finishing the job. We're in the red zone, but we're not in the end zone yet."

"We need to finish the job and part of it is just convincing the American people of the importance of doing this," he added.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Miss.) joined McConnell during the conference and added, "We are not nearly in as bad of a place as we were, but we're not nearly in as good a place as we would all like to be."

June polling from Fox News found that 55% of Republicans surveyed said that they received the vaccine compared to 78% of Democrats and 59% of independents.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Delta variant now accounts for 83% of known U.S. COVID-19 cases. The increase, the outlet reported, is "primarily occurring in areas with lower vaccination coverage."

Los Angeles County returns to mandatory mask indoor mandate, even for those who are vaccinated



Los Angeles health officials reissued the mandatory mask mandate for the county's 10 million residents for a second time after a worrying spike in the coronavirus pandemic.

The new mandate was scheduled to begin at 11:59 p.m. Saturday night.

"We're not where we need to be for the millions at risk of infection here in Los Angeles County, and waiting to do something will be too late, given what we're seeing," said Los Angeles County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis at a virtual media briefing Thursday.

Davis added that there was evidence of "substantial community transmission."

The mandate will apply to public spaces indoors, and will include those who are vaccinated.

Previously, the county had recommended to residents that they continue to wear masks at indoors public areas, even if they were vaccinated, but the recommendation will become a requirement.

California was the first state to announce a lockdown in March 2020 to stop the spread of the pandemic. Other states soon followed its example.

In June, more than a year later, California had largely reopened as the coronavirus infections and deaths receded as more people were vaccinated.

"With more than 20 million vaccines administered across the state, it is time to turn the page on our tier system and begin looking to fully reopen California's economy," said Gov. Gavin Newsom at the time. "We can now begin planning for our lives post-pandemic."

Only a month later, the nation's largest county is returning to a mask mandate.

Health officials noted that Thursday marked six consecutive days that the county had seen 1,000 or more new coronavirus infections. New daily cases of the virus had spiked in January with nearly 20,000. That rate had plummeted to 100 new daily cases in June, but has been on an upward trend. On Thursday, the daily infection rate reached 1, 296.

"This is an all-hands-on-deck moment," Davis said Thursday.

Here's more about the coronavirus spike in Los Angeles:

LA County Records Sixth Straight Day With 1,000-Plus COVID Caseswww.youtube.com

Pfizer to seek approval for booster shot to combat variants. FDA and CDC issue rare statement pushing back.



Pfizer announced Thursday that it would be seeking emergency authorization from the Federal Drug Administration for a booster shot but the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immediately issued a rare statement pushing back on the possibility.

The pharmaceutical giant cited early data from a small study that indicated a third booster shot could help stop the spread of the coronavirus variants that are threatening a resurgence of the pandemic. That study said that a booster could increase neutralizing antibody levels by a factor of 5 to 10 times the original.

A joint statement from the FDA and the CDC soon after the announcement from Pfizer made it clear that they would follow the science before approving a booster.

"Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time," read the statement.

"FDA, CDC, and NIH are engaged in a science-based, rigorous process to consider whether or when a booster might be necessary. This process takes into account laboratory data, clinical trial data, and cohort data — which can include data rom specific pharmaceutical companies, but does not rely on those data exclusively," the statement continued.

"We continue to review any new data as it becomes available and will keep the public informed," the statement concluded. "We are prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed."

The emergence of the coronavirus variants with heightened transmissibility has threatened to undo much of the success from the campaign for vaccinations. While the vaccines remain highly effective against the variants, lower vaccination rates in some states and nations mean the possibility of another wave of infections.

Health officials in Los Angeles have already warned the public that people should consider wearing masks again when indoors in a public setting in order to get ahead of the spread of the delta variant.

"There is a lot of fear and concern" about variants, said Pfizer research leader Mikael Dolsten. "We are confident that such a boost will be highly effective against the delta variant."

Here's more about a possible Pfizer booster:

Pfizer Plans to Request FDA Nod for Covid Boosterwww.youtube.com

Los Angeles health officials call for indoor mask-wearing regardless of vaccination over spread of delta variant



Health officials in Los Angeles strongly urged all residents to wear masks indoors in public spaces, regardless of whether they are vaccinated, over the rise of the coronavirus delta variant.

"With increase circulation of the highly transmissible Delta variant, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health strongly recommends everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors in public spaces as a precautionary measure," read the statement from the County of Los Angeles Public Health.

"In the week ending June 12, Delta variants comprised of nearly half of all variants sequenced in Los Angeles County. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that Delta variants are now responsible for about one in every five new infections across the country, up from approximately one in every 10 the week before," the statement continued.

The statement from Public Health went on to make clear that experts are still gathering data from the variant in order to understand better what the risks are.

"Fully vaccinated people appear to be well protected from infections with Delta variants, however, people with only one vaccine dose of Pfizer or Moderna are not as well protected. The smaller number of COVID-19 infections identified in people who are fully vaccinated have been mild illnesses," they added.

The new guidance appeared to be in line with a statement from the World Health Organization on Friday that called for increased social distancing, even from those who are vaccinated, to prevent the spread of the delta variant among the unvaccinated.

"Vaccine alone won't stop community transmission," said Dr. Mariangela Simao, a WHO official. "People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene ... the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important."

Israel has already empowered health officials to order self-quarantine to residents who might have been exposed to the delta variant.

Health officials in India, where the delta variant was first discovered, have identified a far worse variant they have labeled as delta plus.

Here's more about the delta variant in Los Angeles:

Local doctors urge unvaccinated people to reconsider as Delta variant concerns risewww.youtube.com

WHO says fully vaccinated people should continue social distancing to stop community transmission of delta variant



The World Health Organization said on Friday that fully vaccinated people should continue social distancing, including the wearing of masks, in order to stop community transmission of the delta variant of the coronavirus.

The delta variant was first identified in India, where the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow and devastate the population. It has since spread to the U.S., where experts believe as many as 20% of new coronavirus cases are due to the delta variant.

Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, told reporters on Friday that social distancing needs to continue, even for those who are fully vaccinated.

"People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves," Simao said.

"Vaccine alone won't stop community transmission," Simao continued. "People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene... the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if you're vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing."

On Thursday, President Joe Biden said in comments from Raleigh, North Carolina, that the emergence of the delta variant in the U.S. should encourage parents to get their children vaccinated.

"Six hundred thousand-plus Americans have died, and with this delta variant you know there's going to be others as well. You know it's going to happen," he said. "We've got to get young people vaccinated."

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday that the emergence of the delta variant was the "greatest threat" to the effort to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.

Health officials in India have also recently indicated that a new variant is emerging, which they call delta plus.

Here's the latest about the coronavirus delta variant:

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb on delta variant concernswww.youtube.com

Israel empowers health officials to quarantine those exposed to virus variants — even if they're already vaccinated



Israel empowered health officials to quarantine people who might be exposed to especially infectious virus variants, even if they had already been vaccinated.

The alarming policy was instituted on Wednesday.

Israel was touted as a successful model for vaccination as a weapon against the coronavirus after the country began to reopen its economy. The country boasted a 56% vaccination rate, with 5.1 million fully vaccinated and 5.5 million with at least one vaccine dose.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday of new outbreaks from various virus variants.

The new directive says a self-quarantine for 14 days could be imposed for those who came in "close contact with a carrier of a dangerous virus variant."

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said that people traveling to countries black-listed due to the virus could also face steep fines.

Israeli officials are worried about outbreaks of the delta variant which first appeared in India. Some are sprouting at schools, prompting calls for teens and children to be vaccinated.

Israel reported 840k total cases of coronavirus, with 6,428 deaths from the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the delta variant was the "greatest threat" to the efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Cases of that variant have more than doubled in the U.S. over the last two weeks. Fauci said that the spread of the delta variant in the U.S. was mimicking that in the U.K. where 95% of new cases were due to the variant.

Health officials in India have also identified a second variant they call "delta plus," which could have increased transmissibility.

Here's more about variant outbreaks in Israel:

Warning over Delta variant spread in Israelwww.youtube.com