Three U.S. studies suggest COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against hospitalization and death, even in the face of the highly transmissible Delta variant, but vaccine protection appears to be waning among older populations, especially among those 75 and older.
U.S. data on hospitalization from nine states during the period when the Delta variant was dominant also suggests that the Moderna Inc vaccine was more effective at preventing hospitalizations among individuals of all ages than vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer Inc or Johnson & Johnson.
In that study of more than 32,000 visits to urgent care centers, emergency rooms and hospitals, Moderna's vaccine was 95% effective at preventing hospitalization compared with 80% for Pfizer and 60% for J&J.
Overall, the findings, released on Friday in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly report on death and disease show that vaccines continue to offer strong protection from COVID-19.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Qiagen supports White House COVID-19 vaccination, test mandate
German genetic testing specialist Qiagen said on Friday it supported Biden administration's new COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandate for workplaces.
"We strongly support all initiatives aiming to increase vaccination rates especially at the workplace," the company told Reuters in an email.
Qiagen said it had already updated its policies to make vaccination compulsory for certain employee groups at its U.S. locations.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced policies requiring most federal employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations and pushing large and small private employers to have their workers inoculated or tested weekly.
The White House said it will spend nearly $2 billion on 280 million rapid COVID-19 tests to support the drive.
Abbott Laboratories, one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of rapid COVID-19 tests, said it was quickly working to scale up manufacturing of its two tests - BinaxNOW and ID NOW test kits - including hiring additional employees.
Increased capacity will ensure availability of tens of millions more tests in the coming weeks and months, the medical device maker said.
The new vaccination mandate could apply to as many as 100 million Americans - close to two-thirds of the country's workforce - and amount to Biden's strongest push yet for inoculation.
Southwest Airlines Co, which has more than 54,000 employees, said it was prepared to move toward compliance with the mandate.
"We continue to strongly encourage our Employees to seek and obtain vaccination, and to share their vaccination status with us," the company said.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
Three U.S. studies suggest COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against hospitalization and death, even in the face of the highly transmissible Delta variant, but vaccine protection appears to be waning among older populations, especially among those 75 and older.
U.S. data on hospitalization from nine states during the period when the Delta variant was dominant also suggests that the Moderna Inc vaccine was more effective at preventing hospitalizations among individuals of all ages than vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer Inc or Johnson & Johnson.
In that study of more than 32,000 visits to urgent care centers, emergency rooms and hospitals, Moderna's vaccine was 95% effective at preventing hospitalization compared with 80% for Pfizer and 60% for J&J.
Overall, the findings, released on Friday in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly report on death and disease show that vaccines continue to offer strong protection from COVID-19.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Qiagen supports White House COVID-19 vaccination, test mandate
German genetic testing specialist Qiagen said on Friday it supported Biden administration's new COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandate for workplaces.
"We strongly support all initiatives aiming to increase vaccination rates especially at the workplace," the company told Reuters in an email.
Qiagen said it had already updated its policies to make vaccination compulsory for certain employee groups at its U.S. locations.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced policies requiring most federal employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations and pushing large and small private employers to have their workers inoculated or tested weekly.
The White House said it will spend nearly $2 billion on 280 million rapid COVID-19 tests to support the drive.
Abbott Laboratories, one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of rapid COVID-19 tests, said it was quickly working to scale up manufacturing of its two tests - BinaxNOW and ID NOW test kits - including hiring additional employees.
Increased capacity will ensure availability of tens of millions more tests in the coming weeks and months, the medical device maker said.
The new vaccination mandate could apply to as many as 100 million Americans - close to two-thirds of the country's workforce - and amount to Biden's strongest push yet for inoculation.
Southwest Airlines Co, which has more than 54,000 employees, said it was prepared to move toward compliance with the mandate.
"We continue to strongly encourage our Employees to seek and obtain vaccination, and to share their vaccination status with us," the company said.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)