Jim Cramer on Pfizer's Covid pill: This is the pandemic's 'atomic bomb'

CNBC's Jim Cramer and the 'Squawk on the Street' team react to Pfizer's promising clinical trial data for its oral Covid-19 antiviral pill and comments from former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who said the end of the pandemic in the U.S. is "in sight." For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi

The Covid-19 pandemic could be over in the U.S. by the time President Joe Biden’s workplace vaccine mandates take effect in early January, Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday.

The vaccine requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration begin on Jan. 4 for any company with at least 100 employees. Some 84 million private sector workers must get either their second Moderna or Pfizer shot or one dose from Johnson & Johnson by that date or face regular testing for the virus.

“These mandates that are going to be put in place by Jan. 4 really are coming on the tail end of this pandemic,” said Gottlieb, who’s also a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. “By Jan. 4, this pandemic may well be over, at least as it relates to the United States after we get through this delta wave of infection. And we’ll be in a more endemic phase of this virus.”

All companies complying with OSHA’s new rules must also start enforcing indoor mask mandates for unvaccinated employees starting Dec. 5. Those personnel must also begin submitting weekly negative Covid tests after Jan. 4 to enter the workplace, and anyone who tests positive should quarantine.

The federal mandate contains exemptions for religious and medical reasons. Employees who work exclusively outdoors, at home or in settings where others aren’t present are also exempt from the rules.

OSHA’s guidance doesn’t mandate that businesses pay for their employees’ Covid tests or masks, but any company caught dodging the rules could face fines of anywhere between $13,653 to $136,532 for intentional noncompliance.

Gottlieb’s comments came in the wake of data from Pfizer that indicated its Covid antiviral pill, when paired with an HIV medication, slashed the potential for hospitalization or death by 89% in adults at risk for severe complications. Combining the pill with an HIV medication slowed the metabolism, allowing the Covid antiviral to work longer in the body.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in an interview Friday morning with “Squawk Box” before Gottlieb spoke that the company will submit data on the therapeutic to the FDA before Thanksgiving.

Gottlieb said Pfizer’s new drug shouldn’t be considered a substitute for vaccinating more Americans against the virus, adding that he thought periodic Covid vaccinations and changes to the vaccines could be necessary moving forward. But he noted that antivirals could help treat cases in a range of high-risk individuals.

“When you have therapeutics that are this effective, that can be a backstop for people for whom vaccines don’t work, people who have breakthrough infections – there’s pills being studied in that setting,” Gottlieb said. “It really is a backstop against death and disease from this infection.”

Pfizer’s announcement arrives a month after Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said they created an antiviral that cut Covid hospitalizations and deaths by 50% in patients with up to moderate cases. The United Kingdom cleared Merck’s treatment Thursday.

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Видео Jim Cramer on Pfizer's Covid pill: This is the pandemic's 'atomic bomb' канала CNBC Television