China-Canada Collaboration on CO2 Capture for Cement

China Building Material Academy (CBMA)

Members Dr. Wang, Lan (the CCUS project leader), Dr. Liu, Sr. Engineer, Ms. Zhao, Director for R&D pose for a photo during a May 2018 visit to the International CCS Knowledge Centre to discuss CCS on cement in China.

REGINA, Saskatchewan, July 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A new collaboration between the China Building Materials Academy, (CBMA) and Canadian based, International CCS Knowledge Centre (Knowledge Centre) will see simultaneous advancements in understanding and knowledge sharing of carbon capture technology designed specifically to see substantial emission reductions from the global cement industry.

The first initiative under the agreement, Carbon Capture Use Piloting with Cement Kiln Project will aid CBMA in applying the Knowledge Centre’s model and Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of a test platform – which has a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture capacity of approximately 155 kg CO2/per day. The project will be built and piloted on a carbon capture system that utilizes the post combustion flue gas from a producing cement kiln.

The Knowledge Centre will have an observer role to learn and gain insight on the characteristics of a cement kiln operation and its integration with a post combustion carbon capture system. The agreement grants the Knowledge Centre access to the operational data, such as further design, testing, data based on the modelling, emission-related information, and any improvements made to the CO2 capture test platform.

This collaboration agreement is part of a bilateral science and technology cooperation between Canada and China, the China-Canada Science & Technology Cooperative Action Plan. The agreement also syncs with goals of the Chinese government to achieve carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060 with efforts of the cement industry in China to accelerate innovation in low carbon technologies.

Through the carbon capture pilot platform, the CBMA is expected to adapt the application for potential scale-up to commercial demonstration with know-how that could be applied across the sizable fleet of China National Building Materials Ltd. (CNBM), the world’s largest cement producer and the parent of CBMA.

The Knowledge Centre is currently completing a feasibility study on a full-scaled post-combustion carbon capture system on Lehigh’s Cement plant in Edmonton, Canada by applying the same model based on large-scale CCS experiences from the commercial coal-fired power plant, at the famed Canadian based Boundary Dam 3 CCS Facility.

Quotes

“The International Knowledge Centre is proud to be a partner in assisting the CBMA on its CCS development and deployment journey to help China realize its ambitious goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, which is positive for the world.”

– Conway Nelson, VP Strategy & Stakeholder Relations, International CCS Knowledge Centre

“The cement industry could only achieve carbon neutrality by carbon capture approaches. Deep GHG emission reduction objectives can only be achieved by adhering to the decarbonization technology route, by applying CCS technologies to capture the carbon dioxide emissions from various aspects of the production process.”
中国建材集 周育先董事长:水泥行业要实现碳中和必然通过碳捕捉的方式,只有坚持脱碳技术路线,利用CCS术尽可能吸收生产过程中各环节排放的二氧化碳,才有可能实现深度减排目

– Chairman Zhou Yuxian, Chairman of China Building Materials Group (CNBM)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Cement Emission Overview

  • Concrete, a product of cement, is the second most consumed substance on the planet, next to water, with roughly attributing three tonnes of concrete yearly by every person on earth (State of the Planet, Earth Institute, Columbia University).
  • Total emissions from the cement industry contribute as much as 7-8% of global CO2 emissions.
  • Two thirds or 5% of global emissions result from the chemical reactions in the cement production process and therefore cannot be eliminated through gains in energy efficiency.
  • Global demand for cement is expected to increase 12-23% by 2050 (IEA Report: Transforming Industry through CCUS)
  • As the largest cement producer, China accounts for about 55% of global production, followed remotely by India at 8%.
  • China’s cement industry is estimated about 1.2 Gt of CO2 emissions to their national GHG emissions, annually.

China-Canada Science & Technology Cooperative Action Plan

  • China-Canada Science & Technology Cooperative Action Plan is a framework for cooperation in scientific and technological research, which will extend and strengthen the conduct of cooperative activities in areas of common interest and encourage the application of the results of such cooperation to their economic and social benefit.

MEDIA CONTACTS

International CCS Knowledge Centre
Jodi Woollam
Head of Communications & Media Relations
jwoollam@ccsknowledge.com
T: +1-306-565-5956 / M: +1-306-520-3710
ccsknowledge.com
@CCSKnowledge

About the International CCS Knowledge Centre (Knowledge Centre): with a mandate to advance the global understanding and deployment of large-scale CCS to reduce global GHG emissions, the Knowledge Centre provides the know-how to implement large-scale CCS projects as well as CCS optimization through the base learnings from both the fully-integrated Boundary Dam 3 CCS Facility and the comprehensive second-generation CCS study, known as the Shand CCS Feasibility Study. Operating since 2016 under the direction of an independent board, the Knowledge Centre was established by BHP and SaskPower. For more info: https://ccsknowledge.com/

About the China Building Materials Academy (CBMA): is the largest state-owned comprehensive research development and design firm of the industry sector in China and operates as the technology innovation platform of the China National Building Materials Group Corporation (CNBM), which is the largest comprehensive building materials industry group in China. CBMA undertakes a large number of research and development programmes of national significance and advances the technology for energy-saving and emission reduction in building materials industry. With dozens of labs and testing centres, CBMA is the standard bearer of the building materials industry sector for technology innovation covering cement, concrete, wall material, glass, ceramics, refractory and new materials. For more info: http://cbma.com.cn/en/index.jsp

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84fbcfdd-0f35-4299-af06-d694a269dba0

Philips and Cognizant collaborate to introduce digital health solutions to providers, researchers, and patients


Alliance Pairs Cloud-Based Healthcare Platform with Experience-Oriented Application Design to Improve Patient Care and Clinical Trials Through Increased Provider-Patient Connectivity

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS and TEANECK, NJ – July 8, 2021 – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, and Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), a world-leading professional services firm, today announced a new collaboration to develop end-to-end digital health solutions that will enable healthcare organizations and life sciences companies to improve patient care and accelerate clinical trials. The strategic alliance brings together Philips HealthSuite, a cloud-based platform and Cognizant’s digital engineering expertise to deliver and maintain leading-edge digital health solutions at scale, providing advanced connectivity and using big data to create actionable insights.

Philips HealthSuite, built on Amazon Web Services, is an integrated, modular set of standards-based capabilities that support the development of digital health propositions. The platform securely stores critical healthcare data and provides both advanced data analytics and AI capabilities, while delivering industry-leading interoperability, connectivity, and regulatory compliance. To date, more than 100 types of medical devices have been integrated into HealthSuite, with over 145 billion clinical images securely archived on the cloud platform.

As part of this collaboration, Cognizant will build, deploy, implement, and operate client-specific applications on Philips HealthSuite. These customizable, scalable solutions integrate advanced data analytics, helping to improve both the patient and clinician experience by providing relevant data to the appropriate point-of-care.

With these solutions, healthcare providers can monitor their patients outside traditional clinical settings, and patients can stay more informed of their own well-being. In addition, both biopharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers can quickly gain actionable insights through advanced analytics to make more informed clinical development decisions and rapidly bring new solutions to patients.

“Despite advances, patients and clinicians still face a fragmented technology and data landscape that holds back innovative healthcare services which improve care quality and the human experience,” said Shez Partovi, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer, Royal Philips. “Philips is committed to driving the digital transformation of healthcare. Partnering with Cognizant’s experienced digital engineering teams will accelerate the adoption of solutions built on Philips HealthSuite, delivering digital solutions across the healthcare continuum in a secure and compliant manner, and ultimately helping guide better health decisions for patients.”

For Life Sciences companies, Philips HealthSuite’s compliant and secure medical device connectivity, data integration and analysis will also benefit remote patient monitoring and decentralized clinical trials. This will enable a reduction in paperwork, help researchers reach more diverse trial participants, and improve connectivity between investigators and participants – with the goal of improving the quality and speed of therapy development.

“Cognizant and Philips are each dedicated to improving people’s lives through health technology,” said Ursula Morgenstern, President of Global Growth Markets at Cognizant. “This new collaboration will provide critical solutions that help manage the growing amount of health data available, keep patients and providers better connected, and help accelerate life-saving therapies to market. Virtual and digital health solutions are fundamental to improving health awareness and engagement. We are proud to work with Philips, a world leader in healthtech, to support the health and well-being of people everywhere.”

Learn More:

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being, and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum – from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2020 sales of EUR 17.3 billion and employs approximately 77,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

About Cognizant

Cognizant (Nasdaq-100: CTSH) is one of the world’s leading professional services companies, transforming clients’ business, operating and technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build and run more innovative and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the US, Cognizant is ranked 185 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the most admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com or follow us @Cognizant.

For further information, contact:

Cognizant (US)
Josh Blumenthal
joshua.blumenthal@cognizant.com

Cognizant (Europe, Asia-Pac)
Christina Schneider
christina.schneider@cognizant.com

Cognizant (India)
Rashmi Vasisht
rashmi.vasisht@cognizant.com

Philips Global Press Office
Mark Groves
mark.groves@philips.com

Attachments

Expereo acquires global managed Internet access provider, Brodynt

AMSTERDAM, July 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Expereo, a leading global provider of managed Internet, SD-WAN, SASE, and Cloud Access solutions, announces that it has agreed to acquire Brodynt, a provider of global managed Internet services. This acquisition further strengthens Expereo’s position in providing global managed Internet & SD-WAN services to its global enterprise customer base and service provider partner community.

This news follows the acquisitions of GlobalInternet, Comsave, and Videns IT Services, a leading provider of managed SD-WAN and SASE services, late last year and earlier this year. These acquisitions solidify Expereo’s position in leading the global transformation to software-defined and internet-based networking. With the full support of majority investor, Vitruvian Partners, and minority investor, Apax Partners SAS, Expereo intends to continue its acquisition strategy.

Global enterprises are accelerating their network transformations following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following an initial rush to get their global networks fit-for-purpose for remote working, global enterprise connectivity is now migrating rapidly to software-defined and internet-based solutions, including through accelerated adoption of cloud applications. Expereo’s depth and breadth of expertise in providing and managing software-defined and internet-based networks and Cloud Access allows a globally operating enterprise to do so with ease, trust, and security.

“Expereo brings additional global reach, leading digital user and operations platform, and complementary SD-WAN and SASE experience that our customers and partners will greatly benefit from,” says Marcus Munoz, Brodynt Co-CEO. “We have built a great customer and partner base, as well as a superb team supporting them,” adds Marc Mateo, Brodynt Co-CEO. “I am excited to see this integrated into Expereo, enabling faster expansion and adding broader capabilities as the market very rapidly transforms with internet services now being core to global enterprise connectivity networks; Expereo brings the scale to do so efficiently.”

“It is all about scale and delivering world-class customer experience,” says Irwin Fouwels, CEO Expereo. “Where our ability to effectively source, manage, and improve performance of any type of internet-based networking service anywhere in the world complemented traditional wide-area-network technology, we are now effectively replacing such legacy solutions. Overlaying our own cloud fabric and digital customer interface takes a global internet-based solution to the next level in terms of performance and experience – we are excited to bring this to Brodynt’s customers and partners.”

About Expereo

Expereo is the leading provider of managed network solutions, including Global internet connectivity, SD-WAN, SASE, and Cloud Access services. Expereo is the trusted partner of 30% of Fortune 500 companies and powers enterprise and government locations worldwide, helping to enhance every business’s productivity with flexible and optimal Internet performance.

Vitruvian Partners, an international growth capital and buyout firm headquartered in London with offices across London, Stockholm, Munich, Luxembourg, San Francisco, and Shanghai, acquired a majority shareholding in Expereo earlier in 2021. Apax Partners SAS, a leading European private equity firm based in Paris, owns a minority shareholding alongside Vitruvian. Paris-headquartered Apax Partners SAS and London-headquartered Apax Partners LLP have a shared history but are separate, independent private equity firms.

Twitter | LinkedIn

About Brodynt

Brodynt provides global managed Internet and SD-WAN services to global enterprise customers and service providers such as ISPs, Carriers, and System Integrators. Founded in 2012 with headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, and offices in Austin, Texas, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Twitter  | LinkedIn

Q Advisors is a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Brodynt in connection with the transaction.

Contact:
Conor McGee
conor@grammatikagency.com

 

Global Research Finds Lack of Alignment in Leadership and Talent Jeopardises Post-Pandemic Growth

Boyden reveals strong confidence in growth potential among business leaders is not matched by confidence in having the right talent to align to strategy, with different skills needed on the board

Global Organisational and Talent Confidence Charts

Global Organisational and Talent Confidence Charts

NEW YORK, July 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Boyden, a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 75 offices in over 45 countries, reports on its latest talent research, revealing a lack of alignment in talent to strategy, the need for a different skills matrix on the board, and lack of alignment across the leadership team.

The global study, Talent-led transformation in a post-pandemic world: how can global business leaders deliver on ambitions of growth and reinvention? explores the business outlook among CEOs, boards and other senior leaders, and talent trends, priorities and investment in the wake of the pandemic through 2022.

“Boyden has a long-term commitment to anticipating the trends and issues that will affect our global clients,” commented Trina D. Gordon, President & CEO of Boyden. “While business leaders are seeing strong indicators of recovery, alignment between talent requirements and the suite of leadership skills that will drive growth will be imperative to sustainable success. Leadership needs have changed in this new global environment, from C-suite to the boardroom. It is important that organizations synchronize their leadership requirements to strategies that reflect the evolved global landscape.”

Study findings show that while 77 percent of respondents are extremely confident or confident in their organisation’s growth potential, just 47 percent are extremely confident or confident in having the right talent to align to strategy. For industrial and consumer companies, this drops to 42 percent and 41 percent respectively. Half of all respondents describe their business approach in 2022 as one of growth or expansion mode and just over a quarter, 26 percent, as a learning or transformation opportunity; this bullish approach versus lack of talent alignment jeopardises post-pandemic growth and reinvention.

This lack of alignment goes up to board level, with 52 percent of respondents saying that a different mix of skills is needed on the board. Despite this, only 38 percent of respondents are likely to conduct a board assessment review over the next two years, although the figure is higher, at 45 percent, in North and South America.

Findings show that respondents are reinventing talent: 74 percent are extremely likely or likely to invest in leadership development for high potentials; 66 percent to hire new leadership talent; and 65 percent to redeploy or retrain existing people. In our disrupted work environment, 51 percent are considering new approaches to measuring performance; the top driver is to tie culture and behaviours to business objectives.

Priorities in hiring new leadership talent reveals lack of alignment across the leadership team, particularly around:

  • Diversity: 57 percent of marketing and 47 percent of HR leaders think it is extremely likely or likely that their organisation will hire talent into diversity roles, compared with only 35 percent of CEOs;
  • Sustainability: 42 percent of marketing leaders think it is extremely likely or likely that their organisation will hire talent into sustainability roles, compared with 31 percent of CEOs;
  • Supply chain: 37 percent of finance leaders think it is extremely likely or likely that their organisation will hire talent into supply chain roles compared with 29 percent of CEOs.

Over the next 12 months, 69 percent of respondents expect ‘more emphasis on leadership assessment/development,’ 50 percent expect ‘executive talent retention challenges’ and 49 percent ‘executive recruitment challenges’.

In attracting leadership talent, respondents consider the top two drivers to be ‘a strong overall company reputation’ (57 percent) and ‘a purpose-driven organisation’ (52 percent), followed by ‘workplace of the future’ with hybrid work arrangements (38 percent).

About the research

This research was conducted in Q2 2021 among senior executives worldwide. A total of 528 complete responses comprise 43 percent from Europe, 35 percent from the Americas, and 18 percent from Asia/Pacific. Respondents include 37 percent board/president/CEOs, 23 percent division or country heads, 22 percent HR leaders, with a remainder across finance, operations, marketing and technology.

Industrial sector and consumer & retail each account for 23 percent of responses, followed by 14 percent within professional services, 12 percent from technology/media/telecoms, 11 percent from financial services, and 10 percent from healthcare & life sciences. The remainder are from private equity, social impact (non-profit/government), and academic sectors. By organisation, 27 percent are from publicly quoted, 35 percent from private/independent, 20 percent from private/family-owned, with the remainder from social enterprise, start-up and private equity backed businesses.

About Boyden

Boyden is a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 75 offices in over 45 countries. Our global reach enables us to serve client needs anywhere they conduct business. We connect great companies with great leaders through executive search, interim management and leadership consulting solutions. Boyden is ranked amongst the top companies on Forbes’ Americas Best Executive Recruiting Firms for 2021. For further information, visit www.boyden.com.

Contacts:

Chris Swee
Global Head of Marketing
T: +1 914 747 0172
E: cswee@boyden.com
Joanna Goncalves
Global Senior Director of Marketing
T: +1 416 214 4208
E: jgoncalves@boyden.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c74c2d7d-a1e2-4b51-808d-d91591f6c781

Sophi.io ของ The Globe and Mail คว้ารางวัล North American Digital Media Award จาก WAN-IFRA

โตรอนโต, July 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sophi.io ระบบอัตโนมัติ การเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพ และการคาดการณ์ที่ใช้ปัญญาประดิษฐ์ของ The Globe and Mail ได้รับรางวัล North American Digital Media Award ประจำปี 2021 จาก WAN-IFRA ในหมวด Best Paid Content Strategy นี่เป็นรางวัลที่สี่ของ Sophi ในเดือนที่ผ่านมา

รางวัล North American Digital Media Awards มอบให้เป็นเกียรติแก่ผู้เผยแพร่ที่ได้นำเสนอโครงการสื่อดิจิทัลที่ล้ำสมัย โดดเด่น และไม่เหมือนใครในปีที่ผ่านมา

“เทคโนโลยี [Dynamic Paywall] ทำให้ The Globe and Mail เข้าใจพฤติกรรมของผู้อ่านอย่างแท้จริง นำไปสู่แนวทางปฏิบัติที่ดีที่สุดในการโฆษณาและเนื้อหาที่ต้องชำระเงิน พร้อมปรับกลยุทธ์ทางธุรกิจอย่างชาญฉลาด” WAN-IFRA กล่าวในตอนที่ประกาศผล

Phillip Crawley, CEO และผู้เผยแพร่ของ The Globe and Mail กล่าวว่า: “การได้รับรางวัล WAN-IFRA North American Digital Media Award เป็นปีที่สองติดต่อกัน แสดงถึงความสามารถของ Sophi ในการแสดงให้อุตสาหกรรมการพิมพ์เห็นว่าอนาคตจะเป็นอย่างไร เราภูมิใจที่สามารถนำเสนอเครื่องมือที่ขับเคลื่อนด้วย AI และ ML เหล่านี้ให้กับองค์กรทั่วโลก”

Sophi.io ถูกพัฒนาขึ้นโดย The Globe and Mail เพื่อช่วยห้องข่าวในการตัดสินใจเชิงกลยุทธ์และยุทธวิธีที่สำคัญ ซึ่งเป็นชุดเครื่องมือที่ประกอบด้วย Sophi Automation และ Sophi for Paywalls รวมถึง Sophi Analytics ซึ่งเป็นระบบสนับสนุนการตัดสินใจสำหรับห้องข่าว

Sophi เป็นระบบปัญญาประดิษฐ์ที่ช่วยให้ผู้เผยแพร่ระบุและใช้ประโยชน์จากเนื้อหาที่มีค่าที่สุดของตนได้ ซึ่งจะมีความสามารถในการคาดการณ์ที่มีประสิทธิภาพ โดยใช้การประมวลผลภาษาธรรมชาติ Sophi Dynamic Paywall เป็น Paywall ระบบอัตโนมัติบนไซต์แบบไดนามิกเรียลไทม์เต็มรูปแบบที่ปรับแต่งได้ตามต้องการที่วิเคราะห์ทั้งเนื้อหาและพฤติกรรมของผู้ใช้เพื่อกำหนดว่าเวลาใดที่จะเก็บเงินจากผู้อ่านหรือสอบถามอีเมลแอดเดรส และเวลาใดที่ไม่ควรทำ

ในฐานะผู้ชนะรางวัลในอเมริกาเหนือ ทำให้ตอนนี้ Sophi เป็นผู้แข่งขันสำหรับ WAN-IFRA World Digital Media Awards ซึ่งมีผู้ชนะจากอเมริกาเหนือ ละตินอเมริกา เอเชีย ยุโรป แอฟริกา อินเดีย และตะวันออกกลางเข้าแข่งขัน

เกี่ยวกับ Sophi.io

Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) เป็นชุดเครื่องมือเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพและการคาดการณ์ที่ขับเคลื่อนโดย AI ที่พัฒนาโดย The Globe and Mail บริษัทสื่อข่าวระดับแนวหน้าของแคนาดา เพื่อช่วยผู้เผยแพร่เนื้อหาในการตัดสินใจเชิงกลยุทธ์และยุทธวิธีที่สำคัญ โซลูชันของ Sophi มีให้บริการตั้งแต่ Sophi Site Automation และ Sophi for Paywalls ไปจนถึง Sophi Analytics ซึ่งเป็นระบบสนับสนุนการตัดสินใจสำหรับผู้เผยแพร่เนื้อหา Sophi ถูกออกแบบมาเพื่อปรับปรุงเมตริกที่มีความสำคัญต่อธุรกิจมากที่สุด เช่น การรักษาผู้สมัครสมาชิกและการเข้าซื้อกิจการ การมีส่วนร่วม ความใหม่ ความถี่และปริมาณ

ติดต่อ

Jamie Rubenovitch
หัวหน้าฝ่ายการตลาด, Sophi.io
The Globe and Mail
416-585-3355
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com

Pfizer to Seek OK for 3rd Vaccine Dose; Shots Still Protect

Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Thursday that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant.

Research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely used COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against the highly contagious delta variant, which is spreading rapidly around the world and now accounts for most new U.S. infections.

Two doses of most vaccines are critical to develop high levels of virus-fighting antibodies against all versions of the coronavirus, not just the delta variant — and most of the world still is desperate to get those initial protective doses as the pandemic continues to rage.

But antibodies naturally wane over time, so studies also are under way to tell if and when boosters might be needed.

On Thursday, Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to tenfold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier.

In August, Pfizer plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization of a third dose, he said.

Why might that matter for fighting the delta variant? Dolsten pointed to data from Britain and Israel showing the Pfizer vaccine “neutralizes the delta variant very well.” The assumption, he said, is that when antibodies drop low enough, the delta virus eventually could cause a mild infection before the immune system kicks back in.

But FDA authorization would be just a first step — it wouldn’t automatically mean Americans get offered boosters, cautioned Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Public health authorities would have to decide if they’re really needed, especially since millions of people have no protection.

“The vaccines were designed to keep us out of the hospital” and continue to do so despite the more contagious delta variant, he said. Giving another dose would be “a huge effort while we are at the moment striving to get people the first dose.”

Currently only about 48% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated — and some parts of the country have far lower immunization rates, in places where the delta variant is surging. On Thursday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that’s leading to “two truths” – highly immunized swaths of America are getting back to normal while hospitalizations are rising in other places.

“This rapid rise is troubling,” she said: A few weeks ago the delta variant accounted for just over a quarter of new U.S. cases, but it now accounts for just over 50% — and in some places, such as parts of the Midwest, as much as 80%.

Also Thursday, researchers from France’s Pasteur Institute reported new evidence that full vaccination is critical.

In laboratory tests, blood from several dozen people given their first dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines “barely inhibited” the delta variant, the team reported in the journal Nature. But weeks after getting their second dose, nearly all had what researchers deemed an immune boost strong enough to neutralize the delta variant — even if it was a little less potent than against earlier versions of the virus.

The French researchers also tested unvaccinated people who had survived a bout of the coronavirus, and found their antibodies were fourfold less potent against the new mutant. But a single vaccine dose dramatically boosted their antibody levels — sparking cross-protection against the delta variant and two other mutants, the study found. That supports public health recommendations that COVID-19 survivors get vaccinated rather than relying on natural immunity.

The lab experiments add to real-world data that the delta variant’s mutations aren’t evading the vaccines most widely used in Western countries, but underscore that it’s crucial to get more of the world immunized before the virus evolves even more.

Researchers in Britain found two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, for example, are 96% protective against hospitalization with the delta variant and 88% effective against symptomatic infection. That finding was echoed last weekend by Canadian researchers, while a report from Israel suggested protection against mild delta infection may have dipped lower, to 64%.

Whether the fully vaccinated still need to wear masks in places where the delta variant is surging is a growing question. In the U.S., the CDC maintains that fully vaccinated people don’t need to. Even before the delta variant came along, the vaccines weren’t perfect, but the best evidence suggests that if vaccinated people nonetheless get the coronavirus, they’ll have much milder cases.

“Let me emphasize, if you were vaccinated, you have a very high degree of protection,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said Thursday.

In the U.S., case rates have been rising for weeks, and the rate of hospitalizations has started to tick up, rising 7% from the previous seven-day average, Walensky told reporters Thursday. However, deaths remain down on average, which some experts believe is at least partly due to high vaccination rates in people 65 and older — who are among the most susceptible to severe disease.

Source: Voice Of America