The former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes the COVID-19 pandemic could end by the beginning of next year.
In an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box on Friday, Dr Scott Gottlieb said America is about to gain new tools to fight the disease in the form of antiviral pills from Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co.
Gottlieb said recent Covid vaccine mandates implemented by President Joe Biden in workplaces may not even be necessary by the time they go into effect.
Starting January 4, the mandate requires all companies with at least 100 employees to test weekly those who aren't fully vaccinated.
'These mandates that are going to be put in place by January 4 really are coming on the tail end of this pandemic,' Gottlieb told host Joe Kernen.
'By January 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.'
Former FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said on CNBC's Squawk Box on Friday that he believes the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. will end by January. Pictured: Gottlieb (right) speaks with host Joe Kernen
He heralded antiviral pills developed by Pfizer and Merck, which, when approved by the FDA, will be new tools to fight the pandemic. Pictured: Pfizer headquarters in New York City
Gottlieb said two recent pills that have been shown in clinical trials to treat COVID-19 will help bring about the end of the pandemic.
One the pills, manufactured by Pfizer Inc, has been shown to cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90 percent.
The drugmaker's candidate, which is called PF-07321332, belongs to a class of drugs known as protease inhibitors.
The pill would work by inhibiting an enzyme that the coronavirus uses to make copies of itself inside
