 | FRI, JUN 25, 2021 | | | | Think a friend or colleague should be getting this newsletter? Share this link with them to sign up.
The fast-spreading delta variant is expected to become the dominant variant in the U.S. and worldwide, health officials said this week. We've got the latest on the variant below. Meg Tirrell has the details on the CDC advisory group meeting on reports of heart inflammation in young people who received the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.
Programming note: On June 29, CNBC's Financial Advisor Summit: The Innovative Advisor will bring together forward-thinking advisors to hear from industry heavyweights about the state of the markets. Hear from Ariel Investments CIO Rupal Bhansali, Omega Advisors CEO Leon Cooperman, Morgan Stanley Vice Chairman of Wealth Management, Carla Harris, FCI CEO Brian Edelman and more. Register now!
| | Fauci declares delta 'greatest threat' to the nation's Covid efforts | White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said the highly contagious delta variant is the "greatest threat" to the nation's attempt to eliminate Covid. The variant, first identified in India, now makes up about 20% of all new cases in the United States, up from 10% about two weeks ago, Fauci said. He said delta appears to be "following the same pattern" as alpha, the variant first found in the U.K., with infections doubling in the U.S. about every two weeks. He said it could be the dominant variant in weeks, urging more Americans to get vaccinated.
-Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | | | | Biden says more Americans will die as delta variant spreads | President Joe Biden said Thursday that Covid deaths in the United States will continue to rise due to the spread of the delta variant, calling it a "serious concern." "Six hundred thousand-plus Americans have died, and with this delta variant you know there's going to be others as well. You know it's going to happen. We've got to get young people vaccinated," Biden said at a community center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The president also warned that Americans who are still unvaccinated are especially at risk.
-Rich Mendez | | | | Americans baffle the rest of the world in acting like pandemic is over | More than 2 million people have died from Covid across the globe so far this year than all of 2020 when 1.8 million people lost their lives to the new virus. So why are Americans acting like the pandemic is over? As the U.S. pushes ahead with its reopening, easing mask mandates and lifting public health restrictions, much of the rest of the world is seeing an alarming surge in the number of Covid infections and deaths. The stark contrast underscores how unevenly the coronavirus pandemic has spread, now hitting low-income nations harder as they struggle with access to vaccines, the rapid spread of new variants and heavily burdened health-care systems.
-Sam Meredith | | | | Boosters? The CDC says there's no data suggesting we need them yet | Contrary to the forecasts of Covid vaccine makers everywhere, the CDC hasn't yet decided we all need annual booster shots. At a meeting Wednesday, CDC scientists said the elderly, people in nursing homes, healthcare workers and people with compromised immune systems may need the shots sooner than later. But the jury was still out on whether the rest of us will need them. The committee also said there was a likely link between a rare heart inflammation condition seen mostly in young men after the second shots of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines. Even so, the group agreed the benefits still outweighed the risks for those 12 and up.
-Meg Tirrell | | | | Falling Covid vaccinations could be tough for drug stores | Big demand for Covid vaccines has given drug stores a tailwind in the first half of the year, as people coming for shots often shopped after their appointments. But this week Rite Aid executives declared the Covid shot boom is over, with vaccination rates now falling. Though CEO Heyward Donigan told CNBC she's optimistic, about sales. Yet, at the same time the company Is facing rising wage pressures. For new Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer, the vaccine boom and bust have coincided with her first 100 days on the job. When she reports her first full quarter next week, investors may push her even harder to outline concrete details of how she plans to keep Walgreens stores relevant for consumers in the post-pandemic environment.
-Bertha Coombs | | | | Millions could be suffering from long Covid | A study in England looking at persistent Covid-19 symptoms suggests that around 2 million people in the country may have had the condition known as "long Covid." Among the thousands of participants that said they had experienced a symptomatic Covid infection, 37.7% said they experienced at least one symptom lasting 12 weeks or more, while almost 15% of people said they had experienced three or more symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more. The symptoms of long Covid can vary, with people reporting ongoing fatigue, shortness of breath, memory loss or problems with concentration, insomnia, chest pain or dizziness as well as other symptoms.
-Holly Ellyatt | | | | Lilly plans accelerated approval filing for Alzheimer's drug later this year | The news came after the FDA granted Lilly's drug, donanemab, Breakthrough Therapy designation, and after Biogen set a controversial precedent with its accelerated approval of Aduhelm earlier this month. The Lilly drug showed encouraging data in a mid-stage clinical trial earlier this year, but it was expected to wait to accrue more data to approach the FDA. But with the regulator's blessing, via Biogen, for clearance of amyloid plaques as a surrogate for likely clinical benefits on memory and cognition, Lilly will forge ahead. Biogen's shares dropped on the news as investors factored in potential competition earlier than expected – as well as a potential price war for Biogen's higher-than-expected $56,000 list price.
-Meg Tirrell | |
Post a Comment