Latest news on coronavirus and vaccine cases

The Biden government’s Covid-19 response team said the severe winter storms that hit Texas and much of the Midwest left behind 6 million vaccine doses, affecting every state in the US.

Andy Slavitt, senior White House adviser for Covid Response, said the backlog represents approximately three days of delayed shipment. The delays were due to several points in the vaccine supply chain, he said, including staff shortages at the FedEx, UPS and McKesson distribution sites, road closures and power outages at vaccination sites.

Slavitt added that many states have been able to cover some of the delayed shipments with existing inventory, and the administration expects all delayed doses to be delivered within the next week. Most should be delivered within days, he said.

“We expect to be able to manage this backlog and the new production coming online next week,” Slavitt said.

– Noah Higgins-Dunn

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data listing the most common side effects Americans reported after receiving shots of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines.

The data is based on submissions to the agency’s SMS v-safe system and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a national vaccine safety monitoring program. The analysis used data from the first month of vaccinations, between December 14 and January 13, when more than 13.7 million doses were administered.

The most common side effects after receiving the vaccines were headache, fatigue, and dizziness, followed by chills and nausea. The CDC said people also reported muscle pain, fever, joint pain, and pain at the injection site. The median age of vaccine recipients was 42, according to the VAERS data, and most adverse events occurred in women.

Medical experts say that side effects from vaccines are common and, in fact, are an indication that the injections are working as intended. Many doctors advise the public to brace themselves for some of the stronger than usual side effects of the Covid-19 injections, especially after the second dose.

–Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Yelp is the latest technology company to commit to a work-friendly remote policy once the pandemic is over.

The company announced on Friday that it will switch to a hybrid work model once it is safe to return to the office, where a “significant” portion of the team will work remotely full time or come to the office a few days a week.

“Our hybrid model offers more flexibility to Yelp employees who now have the option to relocate, so they can live where they want to live and work where they feel most effective,” the company said in a release. “There is a lot of promising talent outside the San Francisco Bay Area and New York, where we’ve historically done most of our hiring, and we look forward to welcoming them and making them a part of Yelp.”

With fewer employees coming to physical office spaces every day, the company will also reduce office space.

“Although we plan to keep offices in our current locations, with fewer employees coming to the office every day, our real estate needs have changed,” added Yelp. “We plan to reduce our real estate footprint as leases need to be renewed and by subletting some office space.”

Jessica Bursztynsky

The historic winter storm engulfing the United States is delaying federal shipping of the Covid-19 vaccines, state officials confirmed to CNBC.

California, New York, Florida, Arizona, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado and Louisiana have all reported that their scheduled shipments of Covid-19 vaccines were delayed.

Samantha Bequer, spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, told CNBC that the state was notified yesterday that delays are underway.

“At the moment, the state has not been given a new timeline as to when the delayed shipments can be expected,” she said.

– Will fire

Tyson Foods has recently started immunizing its factory workers in Missouri, Illinois and Virginia. The meat processing company was only able to secure 1,000 doses, according to CNBC’s Bertha Coombs report.

The company has been able to get 25 to 50 doses at once this month to immunize their over-65s, but Tyson Foods employs 120,000 employees in two dozen states.

“We are not turning down any opportunity to get a vaccine for our team members,” said Tom Brower, Tyson’s senior vice president for health and safety.

According to the Food Environmental Reporting Network watchdog group, more than 12,500 Tyson Foods employees have contracted Covid-19. Tyson has not corroborated those reports and claims it has kept its employees safe.

Rich Mendez

Pfizer said it is seeking permission from the Food and Drug Administration to store its Covid-19 vaccine at temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators for two weeks.

The vaccine, which was developed in conjunction with German drug manufacturer BioNTech, currently has to be stored in ultra-cold freezers that keep it between minus 112 and minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Pfizer said it has submitted new data to the U.S. agency showing the vaccine is stable between minus 13 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

The vaccine is shipped in a special thermal container that can be used as temporary storage for up to 30 days by refilling with dry ice every five days. This step would make it easier for the vaccine to travel across the US at a time when the pace of vaccinations is slow.

—Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

The Biden administration this week announced plans to double the number of vaccines shipped directly to pharmacies from one million to two million doses per week, with the goal of reaching 40,000 pharmacies nationwide. Mark Bertolini, former CEO and Chairman of Aetna, joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss.

In a wave of encouraging news, two Israeli studies have shown that the Pfizer vaccine, created in collaboration with Germany’s BioNTech, could have a profound impact on virus transmission, Reuters reports.

A study by Pfizer and the Israeli Ministry of Health found that the Pfizer vaccine reduces infection rates by 89.4% in asymptomatic cases and 93.7% in symptomatic cases, the telephone service reported.

A separate study by Israel’s Sheba Medical Center found that hospital staff who received their first dose in January saw an 85% reduction in symptomatic Covid-19 within 15 to 28 days, and the overall reduction in infections, including asymptomatic cases, 75 % used to be.

Terri Cullen

After a recent study was published about the impact of the B.1.351 variant, first found in South Africa, on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, Geoffrey Porges, director of Therapeutics Research and senior biotechnology analyst at SVB Leerink, to CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” to discuss the implications.

According to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States is seeing a drop in the number of new Covid cases averaged over seven days in 43 states. Only Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming reported increases in the seven-day average of new cases.

Severe Covid cases have stabilized in Washington, which has a seven-day average of 704 current hospitalizations, 3.9% less than a week earlier. Hospital admissions are declining in the other 49 states.

This data provided by JHU is collected from dozens of state and local agencies with varying reporting methods and levels of accuracy. Comparisons of the seven-day average help to eliminate inconsistencies in the state’s reporting procedures.

—Melody Warner