Pfizer board member Gottlieb says the Covid pandemic might be over within the U.S. by January

The Covid-19 pandemic might be over within the U.S. by the point President Biden’s office vaccine mandates take impact in early January, Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb advised CNBC’s “Squawk Field” Friday.

The vaccine necessities from the Occupational Security and Well being Administration start on Jan. 4 for any firm with not less than 100 workers. Some 84 million non-public sector staff should get both their second Moderna or Pfizer shot or one dose from Johnson & Johnson by that date or face common testing for the virus.

“These mandates which can be going to be put in place by Jan. 4 actually are approaching the tail finish of this pandemic,” mentioned Gottlieb, who’s additionally a former commissioner of the Meals and Drug Administration. “By Jan. 4, this pandemic might be over, not less than because it pertains to the USA after we get via this delta wave of an infection. And we’ll be in a extra endemic section of this virus.”

All firms complying with OSHA’s new guidelines should additionally begin implementing indoor masks mandates for unvaccinated workers beginning Dec. 5. These personnel should additionally begin submitting weekly detrimental Covid checks after Jan. 4 to stay employed, and anybody who checks optimistic should quarantine away from work.

The federal mandate accommodates exemptions for non secular and medical causes. Workers who work outside, at residence or in settings the place others aren’t current are additionally exempt from the principles.

OSHA’s steerage would not mandate that companies pay for his or her workers’ Covid checks or masks, however any firm caught dodging the principles will face fines of wherever between $13,653 to $136,532 for intentional noncompliance.

Gottlieb’s feedback got here within the wake of knowledge from Pfizer that indicated its Covid antiviral capsule, when paired with an HIV medicine, slashed the potential for hospitalization or demise by 89% in adults in danger for extreme issues. Combining the capsule with an HIV medicine slowed the metabolism, permitting the Covid antiviral to work longer within the physique.

CEO Albert Bourla mentioned the corporate will submit knowledge on the therapeutic to the FDA earlier than Thanksgiving in an interview with “Squawk Field” Friday morning.

Gottlieb mentioned Pfizer’s new drug should not be thought-about an alternative to vaccinating extra Individuals in opposition to the virus, including that he thought periodic Covid vaccinations and modifications to the vaccines might be obligatory shifting ahead. However he famous that antivirals might assist deal with instances in a variety of high-risk people.

“When you could have therapeutics which can be this efficient, that may be a backstop for individuals for whom vaccines do not work, individuals who have breakthrough infections – there’s capsules being studied in that setting,” Gottlieb mentioned. “It truly is a backstop in opposition to demise and illness from this an infection.”

Pfizer’s announcement arrives a month after Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics mentioned they created an antiviral that reduce Covid hospitalizations and deaths by 50% in sufferers with as much as average instances. The UK cleared Merck’s remedy Thursday.  

CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace, Leslie Josephs and Spencer Kimball contributed to this reporting.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech firm Aetion and biotech firm Illumina. He additionally serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Wholesome Sail Panel.”