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Qiagen has asked European authorities to allow it to inquire whether its employees are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, Bloomberg reports. It notes that privacy rules in many European countries do not allow such disclosures and that about half of Qiagen's 6,000-person workforce is in Europe.

But Bloomberg adds Qiagen is arguing test makers like itself should be reclassified as healthcare companies, which would allow them to ask about vaccination status. Thierry Bernard, the Qiagen CEO, tells it that workers who have not been vaccinated wouldn't lose their jobs, but would be subject to increased testing to keep production going.

"I strongly believe the border of personal freedom stops where collective safety starts," Bernard adds at Bloomberg. "We make tests that are critical for HIV, we make tests that are critical for oncology mutations. It's life and death for patients. I cannot risk the integrity of supply."

Qiagen, it adds, experienced an increase in sales during the pandemic, though forecasted a decline with the availability of vaccines. But it has now again seen an uptick in demands for tests, which Bernard tells it the company has been able to meet.