Tyson Foods struggles to get enough vaccines for its employees
A Tyson Foods employee wears a second protective mask outside the company’s meat processing plant, which has been affected by an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Waterloo, Iowa, USA.
Jeffrey Becker | NETWORK TODAY USA | REUTERS
Tyson Foods recently began an effort to immunize plant employees in Missouri, Illinois and Virginia. The meat processing company was only able to secure 1,000 doses, according to reports from CNBC’s Bertha Coombs.
The company was able to receive 25 to 50 doses at a time so far this month to immunize workers over the age of 65 in occupational safety and health, but Tyson Foods employs 120,000 workers in two dozen states.
“We don’t rule out any chance of getting the vaccine for our team members,” explained Tom Brower, Tyson’s senior vice president for health and safety.
More than 12,500 Tyson Foods workers have hired Covid-19, according to the Food Environmental Reporting Network. Tyson has not confirmed these reports and claims he has protected his workers.
–Rich Méndez
Pfizer is asking the FDA to approve storing doses of vaccines at higher temperatures
A photograph taken on January 15, 2021 shows a pharmacist holding with his gloved hands a bottle of undiluted Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19, stored at -70 ° in a super freezer at Le Mans Hospital , in northwestern France, as countries conduct a vaccination campaign to combat the spread of the new coronavirus.
Jean-Francois Monier | AFP | Getty Images
Pfizer said it is asking permission from the Food and Drug Administration to store its Covid-19 vaccine for two weeks at temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators.
The vaccine, which was developed with German pharmacist BioNTech, is currently to be stored in ultra-cold freezers that keep it between 112 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Pfizer said it sent new data to the US agency showing that the vaccine is stable between minus 13 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
The vaccine is sent in a special thermal container that can be used as temporary storage for up to 30 days by filling it with dry ice every five days. The move could make the vaccine easier to transport across the United States at a time when the rate of inoculation has been slow.
—Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
Former Aetna CEO on how to pick up the pace of vaccine launch in the United States
The Biden administration this week announced plans to double the number of vaccines delivered directly to pharmacies from one million to two million doses per week, with the goal of reaching 40,000 pharmacies nationwide. Mark Bertolini, former CEO and president of Aetna, joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss.
Studies show that the Pfizer vaccine reduces infection rates and may be effective after the first dose
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
Sergio Perez | Reuters
In a series of encouraging news, two Israeli studies have shown that the Pfizer vaccine, made in conjunction with German BioNTech, can have a profound impact on virus transmission, Reuters reports.
A study by Pfizer and the Israeli Ministry of Health found that the Pfizer vaccine reduces infection rates in asymptomatic cases by 89.4% and in symptomatic cases by 93.7%, the cable service reported.
A separate study at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center found that hospital staff who received their first dose in January saw an 85% reduction in symptomatic Covid-19 within 15 to 28 days and the overall reduction in infections, including asymptomatic cases, was 75%.
–Terri Cullen
Biotechnology expert Geoffrey Porges discusses the effectiveness of vaccines against variants
After publishing a recent study on the impact of variant B.1.351, first found in South Africa, on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, Geoffrey Porges, director of Therapeutics Research and senior biotechnology analyst at SVB Leerink, joined CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange “to discuss the implications.
The daily average of new cases of Covid in the US decreases in 43 states
According to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States is seeing a decline in new Covid cases, averaging seven days, in 43 states. Only Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming reported an increase in the seven-day average of new cases.
Severe cases of Covid have stabilized in Washington, which has a seven-day average of 704 current hospitalizations, 3.9% less than the previous week. Hospitalizations are declining in the other 49 states.
This data provided by JHU is collected from dozens of state and local agencies that have different information methodologies and levels of accuracy. Comparisons of the seven-day average help smooth out inconsistencies in state reporting procedures.
—Melodie Warner