TMO - New COVID-19 testing mandate could strain already stretched supplies

A new six-point plan, announced by President Joe Biden on Thursday to fight the pandemic requiring COVID-19 vaccinations or regular testing for nearly two-thirds of U.S. employees could overwhelm the manufacturers of COVID-19 tests, industry experts argue. While lab-based capacity is strong, the rapid point-of-care test supplies are still ramping up, Reuters reported quoting the Advanced Medical Technology Association, a trade group of test manufacturers. The U.S. test makers can only produce about 50 million COVID -19 rapid antigen tests per month, Evercore ISI Vijay Kumar points out. That is sufficient for only about 12 million people to undergo weekly testing. Meanwhile, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 25% of 255 million U.S. adults have yet to receive a COVID-19 shot. Leading rapid COVID-19 test makers, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) and Quidel (NASDAQ:QDEL), have added ~1.1% and ~3.2% in the pre-market, respectively, while Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) is trading

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New COVID-19 testing mandate could strain already stretched supplies