Dr. Scott Gottlieb responds to accusation that he asked Twitter to ban Alex Berenson for dissenting on vaccine efficacy



Dr. Scott Gottlieb responded Friday to an accusation that he colluded with social media companies to shut down dissent about the pandemic and the efficacy of the vaccines.

Gottlieb is a Pfizer board member and a former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On Thursday, former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson accused Gottlieb of a "secret months-long conspiracy" to shut him down and rob him of his free speech rights.

"They wanted Twitter, the most important global platform for journalism, to ban me, even though Twitter had repeatedly found my posts did not violate its rules," Berenson alleged. "They wanted to soil my reputation as a reporter and damage me and my family financially."

Berenson said he was going to file a lawsuit against Gottlieb.

On Friday, Gottlieb responded during an interview with CNBC, but said he would not answer to the specific allegation since a lawsuit was pending.

"This is kind of a convoluted conspiracy theory that somehow, you told Twitter to get rid of him because he was asking too many questions about the efficacy and safety of the COVID vaccine. Do you want to respond to that and tell us your side?" asked "'Squawk Box" host Joe Kernen.

"I've raised concerns about social media broadly, and I've done it on these networks around the threats that were being made on these platforms and the inability of these platforms to police direct threats, physical threats about people," Gottlieb explained.

"That's my concerns around social media and what's going on in that ecosystem," he added.

Kernen went on to detail his own experience with the virus and how vaccines kept him from getting severely sick.

"I'm unconcerned about debate," Gottlieb continued. "I'm unconcerned about debate taking place in platforms, I'm very concerned when physical threats are being made, physical threats against people's safety. I'm very concerned about physical threats against people's safety and the people who gin up those threats against individuals, that concerns me."

Gottlieb reiterated the point on his Twitter account.

"Respectful debate and dialogue is one thing, and should be encouraged and protected. But there's no place for targeted harassment, and misleading dialogue which can instigate a small but persuadable group of people to make targeted and dangerous threats," he tweeted.

Berenson said he has sent legal "demand" letters to Gottlieb and Pfizer, and says he has grounds to use them on the basis of a conspiracy to interfere with his civil rights.

Here's the video of Gottlieb's response:

\u201c"I've raised concerns about social media and the threats that are being made on these platforms," says @ScottGottliebMD on Alex Berenson being kicked off Twitter. "I'm unconcerned about debate being made. I'm concerned about physical threats being made for people's safety."\u201d
— Squawk Box (@Squawk Box) 1665754119

Former FDA commissioner admits: 'Cloth masks aren't going to provide a lot of protection'



Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb admitted that cloth masks do not provide a high level of protection against COVID-19. Gottlieb — who sits on the board of directors of Pfizer — delivered his insight on face masks as well as stating that the omicron is a milder variant during an appearance on "Face the Nation."

"Cloth masks aren't going to provide a lot of protection, that's the bottom line," Gottlieb told host Margaret Brennan on Sunday morning.

"This is an airborne illness," he continued. "We now understand that, and a cloth mask is not going to protect you from a virus that spreads through airborne transmission."

"It could protect better through droplet transmission, something like the flu, but not something like this coronavirus," explained Gottlieb, who was a clinical assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine before becoming the 23rd FDA commissioner in 2017.

At this stage of the pandemic, cloth masks don't provide much protection against COVID-19, according to @ScottGottliebMD.pic.twitter.com/pvX5McVnzX
— Face The Nation (@Face The Nation) 1641139038

Last January, Gottlieb shared a CNN opinion piece titled: "America needs better masks to fight Covid-19."

Part of the reason is that new Covid-19 variants are more transmissible – meaning you are possibly more likely to be infected with even less exposure time and from greater distances than before. As Dr. Walensky herself mentions, ongoing studies are evaluating the efficacy of cloth masks in light of new variants. Without definitive answers, the precautionary principle – erring on the side of caution – should be invoked before more people become infected. Secondly, because -- regardless of variant -- the virus is still transmitted by both droplets and aerosols, the latter of which are best trapped by electrostatic charges found in N95 caliber masks.

In November 2020, Gottlieb wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled: "Some Masks Will Protect You Better Than Others."

In the article, Gottlieb noted that at the beginning of the pandemic, health agencies advised the public to use cloth masks because "medical masks were in short supply."

"A cotton mask offers far less protection than a surgical mask," he wrote, adding, "An N95 or equivalent mask offers the best protection and, if used properly, will filter out at least 95% of infectious particles."

During Sunday's "Face the Nation" interview, Brennan asked Gottlieb if schools should mandate COVID-19 booster shots for 12- to 15-year-olds.

"Well, look, I certainly don't think schools should be mandating boosters," he replied. "I think this should be left up to the discretion of parents and their physicians."

"You know, it's going to depend on the individual circumstance," Gottlieb said. "What is the risk that the child's facing? Are they in a setting where they're more likely to come into contact with the infection? Do they have some underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk of bad outcomes?"

Gottlieb stressed that schools need to remain open.

"I think the imperative needs to be to try to open schools," he stated. "What you're saying by closing schools preemptively, and even colleges, is that you can't possibly control outbreaks in those settings. And I just don't think that that's the case. I think with the tools we have with prudence, with the knowledge we have about how to control this infection in those settings, you can do pretty- a pretty good job of trying to control large outbreaks, certainly within the classroom."

Gottlieb said the Omicron variant "does appear to be a milder strain of coronavirus and we also have a lot of immunity in the population."

"There is a very clear decoupling between cases at this point in hospitalizations and ICU admissions," he said. "There's a very clear, as I said, decoupling between cases and hospitalizations and does appear now based on a lot of experimental evidence that we've gotten just in the last two weeks, that this is a milder form of the coronavirus appears to be a more of an upper airway disease and a lower airway disease that's good for most Americans."

"The one group that- that may be a problem for his very young kids — very young children, toddlers who have trouble with upper airway infections, and you're in fact seeing more croup-like infections and bronchiolitis in New York City among children," he added. "So, that could be a challenge for young kids, and we are seeing rising hospitalizations among that pediatric segment."

Gottlieb believes that the current wave of the Omicron variant will begin to decline in most of the U.S. by the end of February.

"Now this is a big country, this will affect different parts of the country at different points in time," he said. "But if the UK is any guide, London's already peaking. If South Africa is any guide. This is about a two-month epidemic wave from start to finish. And so, parts of the country that were affected earlier, like New York, probably are going to start to peak in the next two weeks, other parts within the next four weeks. So, I think certainly by the end of February, we will be through this if businesses need a guide of when prevalence is going to start to decline in terms of school."

Last month, Gottlieb predicted that 2022 "is going to be a transition year." He said we will likely "go from a pandemic into a more endemic phase."

Gottlieb says Omicron appears to be a "milder form" of COVID-19, but pediatric danger remains www.youtube.com

Dr. Scott Gottlieb: New CDC mask guidance is 'confusing,' will have 'negligible impact' on Delta surge



Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said Wednesday that he thinks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new guidance recommending that vaccinated people wear masks will have a "negligible" effect on reducing COVID spread.

"I don't think things have shifted, I think they've gotten more confusing for the average consumer because of the shifting advice from CDC," Gottlieb said during an interview on CNBC News.

The CDC issued new guidance Tuesday recommending that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in public if they are in an area with substantial or high transmission of COVID-19. Increased COVID-19 cases among the unvaccinated caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant and instances of breakthrough infections motivated the CDC to insist that people mask up again, including everyone in K-12 schools, in order to reduce viral spread.

"The bottom line is ... the vaccine doesn't make you impervious to infection. There are some people who are developing mild and asymptomatic infections even after vaccination," explained Gottlieb, who sits on the board of Pfizer. He said those who live in a "high prevalence area" should be aware that even if they are vaccinated a transmissible strain like the Delta variant could spread to elderly people or children who are vulnerable to infection, especially if they are unvaccinated.

But he doesn't think that risk requires widespread masking for everyone in America who's been vaccinated.

"Whether or not that should then translate into general guidance for the entire population that if you're vaccinated you should wear a mask, I don't think that that's the case," he said. "I don't think we're going to get enough bang for our buck by telling vaccinated people they have to wear masks at all times to make it worth our while."

The reason new guidance isn't worthwhile, according to Gottlieb, is that it appears the surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant is nearing a peak. He predicted that in "another two or three weeks" the surge of COVID-19 cases will begin to subside.

"This new guidance will have a negligible impact on that," he said.

Some of the states hardest hit by the Delta surge showing some indication that their epidemic waves could be starti… https://t.co/k2KycednLV

— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) 1627484440.0

Instead of telling all vaccinated people to wear masks indoors, Gottlieb says the CDC should tell people who live in areas at high risk of COVID spread that if they experience symptoms of COVID or come into contact with someone who has it, they should get tested and consider wearing a mask.

People should also be aware that not all masks offer equal protection from contracting the virus or from spreading it.

"The physical properties of the virus as best we know haven't changed. The reason why this Delta strain is more transmissible is because there's just more of it, you develop more virus early in the course of your infection," Gottlieb said.

"If you as an individual want to protect yourself from this virus, mask quality does matter. Wearing a higher quality N95 or KN05 mask is going to afford you more protection. In the setting of a more transmissible strain, you need to be mindful of the quality of the mask that you're wearing."

Wearing a cloth mask or procedure mask will decrease the likelihood of spreading the virus to others, Gottlieb added, but is unlikely to offer protection from other people around you.

Former FDA chief says now is the time to begin lifting mask mandates: 'As aggressively as we put them in'



Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said this week that indoor mask mandates should begin to be lifted immediately, saying vaccine efficacy means the government should relax pandemic-related restrictions.

In fact, Gottlieb said Thursday that if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not begin encouraging the lifting of mask mandates, they will quickly lose credibility.

"I think we should start lifting these restrictions as aggressively as we put them in," Gottlieb told CNBC host Shepard Smith.

"We need to preserve the credibility of public health officials to perhaps reimplement some of these provisions as we get into next winter, if we do start seeing outbreaks again," he continued. "And the only way to earn public credibility is to demonstrate you're willing to relax these provisions when the situation improves. That's what gives you the credibility to implement them when things worsen."

Overall, Gottlieb predicted the COVID-19 situation in the U.S. will only continue to improve, yet another reason to relax or rescind mask mandates.

"Even if vaccination rates are slowing, we're still going to continue to chip away at getting more people vaccinated," he said, "but I think that these gains are locked in, and the summer looks very good."

"I think we can do it right around now," @ScottGottliebMD says on lifting indoor mask mandates. https://t.co/weVu2jTo0q

— The News with Shepard Smith (@thenewsoncnbc) 1620343325.0

What is the CDC saying?

The CDC, under President Joe Biden's leadership, does not agree with Gottlieb.

Despite finally updating mask guidance allowing fully vaccinated individuals to go outside without wearing a face mask under most circumstances, the CDC still says all people, regardless of their vaccine status, should wear a mask indoors.

Surprisingly, as vaccination rates slow because the people most enthusiastic about vaccines have already received their shots, the CDC and other public health officials who were aggressive with restrictions are not using mask mandate rescission as an incentive for more people to get vaccinated.

However, polling data suggest such incentives would work.

In one recent study, researchers discovered an overall increase of 13% in vaccine eagerness if it meant mask mandates become a thing of the past.

Yep: "large increases in willingness to take vaccines emerged for those who were asked about getting a vaccine if d… https://t.co/BwRjAquhEH

— Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome) 1620491499.0