According to Dr. Scott Gottlieb, low levels of natural immunity have been hindering China’s attempts to contain spread of its new Covid Omicron BA.2 subvariant.

China’s population is very susceptible to the new variant. The new variant is much more contagious, and it will be difficult to control. They don’t have natural immunity.” Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner said during an interview with “The Associated Press”.Squawk Box.”

The BA.2 omicron subvariantThe omicron was commonly known as “stealth”, and it was discovered for the first time in 2021.

“They don’t have vaccines to protect this specific variant, the omicron variant. They’re therefore very susceptible to being spread.” They did not use the time they paid to prevent the omicron virus from spreading,” Gottlieb said. Gottlieb is also on the Covid board. Pfizer.

Some of the major cities in China have been impacted by an increasing number BA.2 caseloads. to shutterMove schools online and close any unnecessary businesses. It is China’s deadliest pandemic outbreak since it began in 2020. China has continued to exert its control over the situation. zero-Covid strategy.

China’s zero Covid Policy imposes travel restrictions on both domestic and international travelers and strict quarantines. Although the policy helped keep cases down during the worst of the pandemics, it has not been without its challenges for health officials. have warned that China’s resulting lack of exposure to Covid leaves it vulnerable to harder-to-control strains such as omicron.

Economic repercussions could also be caused by the latest Omicron epidemic in China. It may affect supply chains that are already in trouble, especially for tech-related companies.

AppleShares fell more than 2 percent midday after Foxconn’s Chinese supplier, Shenzhen, halted production at its Foxconn plants. According to Foxconn, activity will return once the government approves it. This was confirmed by CNBC.

Gottlieb suggested that China could have a larger outbreak than was reported. It adds to uncertainty.

Gottlieb explained that it is not known how widespread the Chinese outbreak is right now. “We are not able to tell if there are tens or thousands of cases, or hundreds of thousand of cases.”

Mainland China had 1,437 newly confirmed cases Sunday. This brings the country’s total active, domestically transmitted cases up to 8,531 

“People will get infected at the homes they are confining them in right now. The big question is how much and for how long. Gottlieb stated.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb contributes to CNBC and serves on the boards of Pfizer Genetic Testing Start-up Tempus and Aetion. Illumina is a biotech company. As co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel”, he also plays a key role.