Latest news on coronavirus cases, stimuli and vaccines

The Covid vaccination effort in Europe is on shaky ground as many of the region’s most populous countries have halted use of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca after reports of blood clots among those vaccinated, Reuters reports.

Germany, which is facing a third wave of the virus, joined Italy and France in halting administration of the vaccine on Monday, the press service said.

Denmark and Norway halted use of AstraZeneca last week and were followed by Iceland, Bulgaria, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The vaccine supply is well below what is needed and the World Health Organization has urged countries to continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine, Reuters reports.

“To date, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem serious illnesses from the virus,” said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.

–Chris Eudaily

Many Americans have taken over and moved during the coronavirus pandemic, but the likelihood of you changing your address depends a lot on your age, according to a new study from Bankrate.com.

Gen Z – aged 18 to 24 – were most likely to take stakes, with 32% on the move. This group was followed by millennials – aged 25 to 40 – at 26%.

Gen Xers – aged 41 to 56 – and baby boomers – aged 57 to 75 – were the least likely to move, with 10% and 5% moving, respectively.

The main reason people moved was to be closer to friends and family and then to live more affordably or move for a job.

Most of those who moved did not move far from the cities. Three of the five most popular places to leave Manhattan are within 15 miles. Meanwhile, people who moved from other cities, such as Austin, Dallas, Houston, or Orlando, mostly chose new home bases within 50 miles.

“Lorie Konish.

A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that most people who received the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine returned for their second injection on time.

The recommended interval for vaccines is 21 days after a person’s first vaccine with Pfizer’s vaccine and 28 days for Moderna’s, although scientists say up to 42 days are allowed if a delay is inevitable.

According to the CDC’s analysis, which looked at more than 12.4 million people who received their first dose through February 20, 88% of people received both doses while 3.4% missed their second dose. The study also found that the majority of people – nearly 96% – who received both doses of the vaccine received the second vaccine within the recommended time frame.

“These results are incredibly reassuring as we continue to scale up our vaccination efforts. They show that our systems are working and that people are taking vaccinations seriously, even if it means taking the time to show up for their second appointment.” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing after the study’s publication.

—Noah Higgins-Dunn

Trying to measure the rebound in air travel? Look at United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. A year ago, Kirby, then president of the Chicago-based airline, was perhaps the most pessimistic airline chief about the Covid-19 pandemic, warning investors at a conference of JP Morgan industry in March as the carrier braced for a sharp drop in revenues.

The declines even exceeded Kirby’s expectations. US airlines lost $ 35 billion last year.

After Congress approved each of the two rounds of government wage bill support last year, Kirby and other United executives warned of the challenges ahead. After Congress approved a third round of payroll assistance last week, Kirby appeared to take a more optimistic tone, saying in a LinkedIn post that “our teams will be able to stay current in their training and ready. to meet expected future demand “.

Kirby, who became CEO of United last May, returns to JP Morgan’s industry conference today, presenting at 9:40 a.m. ET

–Leslie Josephs

Dr Scott Gottlieb told CNBC that coronavirus developments in Europe are probably no longer predictive of what will happen a few weeks later in the United States, unlike previous phases of the pandemic.

“Everything that happened in Europe has finally happened here. Now I think things have changed. We are ahead of Europe,” said the former head of the FDA.

Some European countries like Italy are putting in place stricter public health restrictions in response to an increase in Covid infections. However, Gottlieb noted that the United States has a larger share of its population receiving at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine compared to member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area.

“The fact that we haven’t seen the surge in coronaviruses gain … even as B117 becomes the prevalent strain in the United States, I think that bodes well,” Gottlieb said.

–Kevin stankiewicz

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a contributor to CNBC and is a board member of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, and biotech company Illumina. Gottlieb is also co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings ′ and Royal Caribbean’s Healthy Sail Panel.

Public health data released over the weekend that showed hundreds of Tesla workers tested positive for the coronavirus at the company’s Fremont, Calif., Plant.

Emily Glazer, Wall Street Journal reporter, and Dan Primack, senior editor at Axios, joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss development as well as other Tesla headlines.

Six countries in the European Union – Austria, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia – have raised concerns over how the bloc is distributing Covid-19 vaccines after AstraZeneca has again reduced its delivery targets.

They fear that without any changes some EU countries “may achieve collective immunity in a matter of weeks while others are far behind,” they said in a letter.

Their complaint follows news that AstraZeneca will not meet its delivery targets in the coming months. The Swedish-British pharmaceutical company has confirmed to CNBC that it will deliver 30 million doses to the EU by the end of the first quarter and an additional 70 million doses in the second quarter.

These numbers are lower than what the bloc expected to receive.

–Silvia amaro

Facebook will begin adding labels to articles on Covid-19 vaccine safety and will soon label all articles on vaccines, Reuters reported.

The social media giant has come under fire for allowing vaccine misinformation to spread across company platforms, according to Reuters.

Facebook said it is also launching a tool in the United States to give users information on where to get Covid vaccines and add a Covid information box to its Instagram photo-sharing site, the service said. of wire.

–Terri cullen

Ireland and the Netherlands have become the latest countries to suspend use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford for safety reasons.

Several European countries, including Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Bulgaria, have already suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people. Thailand became the first Asian country to end jab use last week.

The Dutch government has said the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will not be used nationwide until at least March 29, while Ireland said earlier today it had temporarily suspended firing as a precaution. .

The World Health Organization has sought to downplay ongoing safety concerns, saying last week that there was no link between shooting and an increased risk of blood clots.

—Sam Meredith

JetBlue Airways says demand for air travel has increased in recent weeks, a trend that will help cut losses for the carrier, as passenger numbers hit the highest levels in a year.

“Although booking trends remain choppy, JetBlue has seen improved bookings through leisure activities and visiting friends and relatives in recent weeks …”, says JetBlue in a filing.

New York-based JetBlue says it expects its EBITDA to be negative at $ 490 million and $ 540 million, down from an earlier estimate of losses of $ 525 million to $ 625 million. First-quarter revenue will still be down 61% to 64% from 2019 in the first quarter of the year, he estimated, after previously forecasting a drop of up to 70%.

JetBlue shares are up 4.7% in pre-market trading.

–Leslie Josephs