Former FDA commissioner says most Americans may not have coronavirus immunity despite surge in cases

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Former FDA commissioner expects antibody testing will reveal most people still don't have coronavirus immunity

Dr. Mark McClellan, professor of business, medicine and policy at Duke University and former FDA commissioner, joins Martha MacCallum on 'The Story.'

Former Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan joined Martha MacCallum on "The Story" Tuesday to discuss New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's announcement that the state has developed an antibody test that could help in the fight to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

"The antibody tests ... are going to be really useful to know just how widespread the coronavirus has been in different communities around the country," said McClellan, now a professor of business, medicine and health policy at Duke University. "And that's going to be very helpful in planning for the future, [knowing] how vulnerable our populations are."

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McClellan, who led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from March 2004 to October 2006 following his 17-month tenure as the head of the FDA, added the tests are likely to reveal sobering facts about most people's vulnerability to the virus.

"I expect ... what it's going to find is that even though we've seen a lot of cases in this country, most people, perhaps the vast majority of people, still don't have immunity," he said. "And that's something that we're gonna have to plan ahead for. That attack of the virus is not done. It can come back in additional waves. And so there's some steps we need to take to deal with that."

Cuomo announced Tuesday that the Wadsworth Center, the New York State Department of Health's Albany-based lab, had developed the test. The governor added that once approved by the FDA for widespread use, the test could help healthy people go back to work.

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McClellan told host Martha MacCallum that he believes much is still uncertain about the virus, including how long immunity to it lasts.

"While we have tests that can detect antibodies ... we don't yet know whether people who have had mild disease, for example, are really protected and how long the immunity last," he said. "It's very important to do some further studies in the near term so that we can make confident decisions and tell people, you know, you really are safe from further attack from the virus."