Gottlieb: Pre-Clinical Data on Whether the New Covid Vaccine Will Protect Against the Latest Variant Is ‘Encouraging’

EXCERPT:

GOTTLIEB: "Yeah, so the data right now, it's pre-clinical data. So, it's data looking at whether or not the antibodies that are produced as a result of getting vaccinated from KP.2 will also neutralize this KP.3 strain. That data looks encouraging and we rely on that data, that neutralizing antibody data. We've historically relied on it and it's been a good proxy for how effective the vaccine is going to be. So, this vaccine should protect against KP.3, about a third of the cases of KP.3 right now. I don't believe that the winter surge, and we're likely to see a winter surge of Covid, is going to be from KP.3. Right now, if you look across the country, Covid cases are starting to decline in most parts of the country. Perhaps the northeast is still rising, parts of the west, states like Utah and Colorado. But we should be through most of this summer surge. Cases should start to continue to come down. And then what ultimately emerges in the wintertime, we don't know yet."