Apple to require employee proof of COVID-19 booster: The Verge

Apple Inc will require retail and corporate employees to provide proof of a COVID-19 booster shot, The Verge reported, citing an internal email.

Starting Jan. 24, unvaccinated employees or those who haven't submitted proof of vaccination will need negative COVID-19 tests to enter Apple workplaces, the report said. The Verge said it was not immediately clear if the testing requirement applies to both corporate and retail employees.

"Due to waning efficacy of the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and the emergence of highly transmissible variants such as Omicron, a booster shot is now part of staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccination to protect against severe disease," the memo read, according to The Verge.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many companies in the US have been strengthening their COVID-19 rules, mandating vaccination and delaying back-to-office plans as the Omicron variant increases infections across the country.

This week, Facebook parent Meta Platforms mandated COVID-19 booster shots for all workers returning to offices. It also delayed US office reopenings to March 28, from an earlier plan of Jan. 31.

Alphabet Inc's Google on Friday said it was temporarily mandating weekly COVID-19 tests for people entering its US offices.

A report by The Information said Amazon.com Inc has offered its US warehouse workers $40 to get a booster shot.

-reuters

US FDA authorizes COVID-19 vaccine boosters for the immunocompromised

The US Food and Drug Administration authorized a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc for people with compromised immune systems.

The amended emergency use authorization paves the way for people who have had an organ transplant, or those with a similar level of weakened immune system, to get an extra dose.

"After a thorough review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small, vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines," Janet Woodcock, US FDA's acting commissioner, said in a tweet on Thursday.

"Others who are fully vaccinated are adequately protected & do not need an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine at this time."

The vulnerable group of patients make up less than 3% of US adults, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), had said before the authorization.

A panel of advisers to the CDC will meet on Friday to discuss booster doses, and a vote later by the committee will help decide on the roll out of the extra shots.

Scientists are still divided over the broad use of COVID-19 vaccine boosters among those without underlying problems as benefits of the boosters remain undetermined.

Pfizer has said the efficacy of the vaccine it developed with BioNTech drops over time, citing a study that showed 84% effectiveness from a peak of 96% four months after a second dose.

Moderna has also said it sees the eventual need for booster doses, especially since the Delta variant has caused "breakthrough" infections in fully vaccinated people.

Reports of infections among vaccinated people and concerns about diminishing protection have galvanized wealthy nations to distribute booster shots, even as many countries struggle to access first vaccine doses.

The World Health Organization last week called for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine booster shots until at least the end of September.

Wall Street analysts expect the authorization of a booster dose for a broad population to bolster profits of COVID-19 vaccine makers.

-reuters