Raphael Stevens

Researchers found the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccines against delta variant infections was 93% a month after the second dose and fell to 53% after four months.
By comparison, effectiveness against other non-delta variants was 97% after a month and declined to 67% after four months, according to the study.

Safeway pharmacist Ashley McGee fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccination at a vaccination booster shot clinic on October 01, 2021 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

The effectiveness of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine against infection tumbles over several months, falling from a peak of 88% a month after receiving the two-shot series to 47% six months later, according to an observational study published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet.
While the two-dose mRNA vaccine’s efficacy against infection wanes, its protection against Covid-related hospitalizations persists, remaining 90% effective for all coronavirus variants of concern — including delta — for at least six months, according to the study, which was funded by Pfizer.

The findings confirm early reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Israeli health officials that found the protection against infection falls over several months even as its effectiveness in keeping people out of the hospital held up.

“Protection against infection does decline in the months following a second dose,” said Dr. Sara Tartof, an epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente and the study’s lead author. Kaiser Permanente conducted the research with Pfizer.
The published data comes less than two weeks after U.S. health regulators approved distributing booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to an array of Americans, including the elderly and other adults deemed at high risk. Only a limited number of recipients who originally received Pfizer’s vaccines are eligible to get boosters at this time. The new policy will make third Pfizer doses available to roughly 60 million people, 20 million of whom were immediately eligible, President Joe Biden said late last month.
A key Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is scheduled to hold a two-day meeting next week to discuss whether health regulators should recommend booster shots for those who received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines.
Booster shots have been a contentious topic for scientists — in and outside the government — especially as many people in the U.S. and other parts of the world have yet to receive even one dose of a vaccine.

The findings published Monday evening were based on more than 3.4 million electronic health records from the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system between Dec. 4 and Aug. 8. During the study period, the proportion of positive cases attributed to the delta variant increased from 0.6% in April to nearly 87% by July.
Researchers found the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness against delta variant infections was 93% a month after the second dose and fell to 53% four months later. By comparison, effectiveness against other non-delta variants was 97% after a month and declined to 67% after four months, according to the study.
Effectiveness against delta-related hospitalizations remained high at 93% for the duration of the study period, the researchers said.The decline in efficacy for infection is “most likely due to waning and not caused by delta or other variants escaping vaccine protection,” Pfizer chief medical officer for vaccines Dr. Luis Jodar said.
“Our variant-specific analysis clearly shows that the BNT162b2 vaccine is effective against all current variants of concern, including delta,” he said in a release published alongside the study.

CNBC Health & Science

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NBC Sports said the New England Patriots versus Tampa Bay Buccaneers contest averaged 28.5 million total viewers on all platforms.
It’s the most-watched Sunday night football game since 2012 for the network.
Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to a 19-17 victory. The game drew 27.2 million viewers on NBC TV.

Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throws a pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the third quarter in the game at Gillette Stadium on October 03, 2021 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Maddie Meyer | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Tom Brady’s return to New England was filled with drama from start to finish, and it helped NBC Sports bring in the most viewers for its “Sunday Night Football” franchise since 2012.
The network said the Patriots versus Tampa Buccaneers contest averaged 28.5 million total viewers on all platforms, including NBC TV and streaming service Peacock. NBC said it was the largest audience since a December 2012 Week 17 contest featuring the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Football Team, which attracted 30.3 million viewers.

The Bucs beat the Patriots 19-17 in a game pitting superstar quarterback Brady against his former team and coach Bill Belichick. Brady won six Super Bowls, and lost three more, with the Patriots before adding another win last year with the Bucs.
Sunday’s game averaged “approximately 27.2 million viewers” on NBC TV, according to NBC Sports, which used metrics from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. Top markets included Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, Tampa, Hartford and Cincinnati.
The contest had plenty of theatrics.
Brady started it by breaking Drew Brees’ record for passing yards (80,358) to become the NFL’s all-time leader. Brady now has 80,560 yards after finishing Sunday’s game throwing for 269 yards. Brady also led the Bucs to a late fourth-quarter field goal with 1:57 remaining, giving the visitors a two-point edge. Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones responded to lead the team to its field goal attempt, but Patriots kicker Nick Folk missed a 56-yard potential game-winner.
Brady’s ability to draw huge audiences isn’t surprising. The quarterback has been featured in three of the five most-viewed NFL games on a Sunday dating back to 1988, the earliest year viewership stats are available, according to the league.

Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts and Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots meets on the field after the Patriots won their game 24-20 on November 4, 2007 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Andy Lyons | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

The most-watched of those contests is Brady’s November 2007 matchup with Peyton Manning, as the Patriots met the Indianapolis Colts. That national game between the two undefeated teams attracted a record 33.8 million total viewers on CBS. The 24-20 win improved the Patriots to 9-0 while dropping the Colts to 7-1.
Brady also kicked off the NFL’s 2021 season Sept. 9 with 26 million total viewers on all platforms. The Bucs beat the Dallas Cowboys, 31-29, behind Brady’s late fourth-quarter drive, leading to the game-winning field goal. The game was the most-watched NFL opener since 2015.
Disclosure: NBC and CNBC are both owned by NBCUniversal.

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“No Time to Die” is on pace to top $100 million at the domestic box office during its debut this weekend, box office analysts said.
No other film released during the Covid pandemic has surpassed this benchmark.
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which debuted over the weekend, holds the pandemic-era record for highest box-office opening with $90.1 million.

Daniel Craig stars in “No Time To Die” the latest James Bond film.
MGM | Universal

“No Time to Die” is poised to do something no other major blockbuster has been able to accomplish since the coronavirus pandemic began — top $100 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend.
The latest James Bond flick, which surpassed international box-office expectations over the weekend, is on pace to deliver a strong debut that could not only top pandemic-era records, but ones set by previous Bond films, according to industry analysts.

At present, Sony’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which debuted over the weekend, holds the pandemic-era record for highest box-office opening with $90.1 million.
Movie theater operators told CNBC that “No Time to Die” is overperforming advanced ticket sales expectations and, in many cases, is matching the presales for “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”
Notably, the “Venom” sequel outpaced its predecessor’s opening haul from 2018.
“‘No Time to Die’ is perfectly positioned to build on that momentum,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com.
While the Bond franchise has generally skewed toward an older audience, box-office analysts expect that a range of generations will head to cinemas this weekend to see Daniel Craig’s long-delayed fifth and final turn as 007.

“The box office ceiling for Bond’s latest adventure could be higher than it may have ever been before the pandemic,” Robbins said.
Currently, 2012’s “Skyfall” holds the record for highest-grossing opening for a Bond film with $88 million in domestic ticket sales, according to data from Comscore. The movie also is the only Bond film to top $1 billion at the global box office.
“For the hard-core aficionados ‘No Time to Die’ represents a major milestone and a true not to be missed cinematic event and thus the potential is there for 9-digit opening weekend numbers the likes of which have not been seen since ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ opened to in late December of 2019,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal and CNBC. Universal is releasing “No Time To Die” internationally while Amazon-owned MGM handles the domestic release

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Hollywood’s backstage union workers voted to authorize an industrywide strike.
This vote comes after months of failed talks between the leaders of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major film and television production companies.
The union has been advocating for better working hours, safer workplace conditions and improved benefits.

Donna Young of IATSE Local 700 Motion Picture Editors Guild, writes a message of fair wages for all on a union members car during a rally at the Motion Picture Editors Guild IATSE Local 700 on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA.
Myung J. Chun | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Negotiations between Hollywood’s studios and a union representing its film and television crews are set to restart Tuesday after backstage workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize an industry-wide strike Monday.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said 90% of eligible voters cast ballots over the weekend, with more than 98% in support of strike authorization.

“The members have spoken loud and clear,” Matthew Loeb, president of IATSE, said in a statement Monday. “This vote is about the quality of life as well as the health and safety of those who work in the film and television industry. Our people have basic human needs like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend. For those at the bottom of the pay scale, they deserve nothing less than a living wage.”
The vote comes after months of failed negotiations between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major film and television production companies.

This decision allows IATSE to initiate a strike should talks with AMPTP remain stalled. This is the first time in IATSE’s 128-year history that members of the union have authorized a nationwide strike.
In a statement, AMPTP said it remained committed to reaching an agreement that will keep the industry working.
“We deeply value our IATSE crew members and are committed to working with them to avoid shutting down the industry at such a pivotal time, particularly since the industry is still recovering from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the group said.IATSE represents a wide swath of industry workers, from studio mechanics to wardrobe and make-up artists. In total, it acts on behalf of 150,000 crew members in the U.S. and Canada. Around 60,000 of those are covered by the current TV and film contracts being renegotiated.

The union has been advocating for better working hours, safer workplace conditions and improved benefits.
“I hope that the studios will see and understand the resolve of our members,” Loeb said. “The ball is in their court. If they want to avoid a strike, they will return to the bargaining table and make us a reasonable offer.”
The AMPTP said reaching a deal “will require both parties working together in good faith with a willingness to compromise and to explore new solutions to resolve the open issues.”
Its contract with AMPTP, which went into effect in 2018, ended July 31 and was extended until Sept. 10. IATSE is calling for a new three-year agreement that would give behind-the-scenes workers higher pay, meal breaks, improved contributions to health and pension plans and a bigger cut of profits from streaming productions.
These demands come on the heels of one the most tumultuous times in the industry, as productions worked through a global pandemic to ensure studios had content to deliver to consumers.
The pandemic has also irrevocably changed the production ecosystem. For 18 months, consumers have been stuck at home watching TV shows and movies. This boost in viewership has given streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video massive gains in subscriptions and subscription fees.
It has also led these platforms to seek out more content and bolster its volume of production. This means IATSE workers have been called upon to work more hours as the number of projects increases, but compensation is not keeping up with this demand, the union said.
Of course, studios also faced tough financial decisions during the pandemic, as movie theaters were shuttered for nearly six months and, even when they did reopen, moviegoers were slow to return. Many companies opted to release films in theaters and on streaming services at the same time. While this helped boost subscription numbers, it ultimately led to a cannibalization of box-office sales.
An industrywide strike would essentially stop Hollywood production in its tracks, similar to what the writer’s strike did 14 years ago. That strike, between 2007 and 2008, led many shows to shorten or postpone new seasons and led to the cancellation of others.

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Many Americans are still feeling the effects of Covid-19 due to lost jobs or income.
The key thing to remember is that these situations likely are temporary, one financial advisor says.
Taking certain steps can help you make the most of the resources you have and potentially find new work sooner.

kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images

The recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has been slower than a lot of people expected.
For many Americans, that means their incomes are not yet back on track or may have suffered again during the onset of the delta variant.

Data shows that hiring is still slow. Weekly initial jobless claims were up more than expected last week. Continuing unemployment claims were also higher.
While many unfilled positions are available in certain industries, other workers may struggle to find a fit that matches their experience.
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Regardless of whether a financial setback has just hit you or you have been unemployed for months, revamping your strategy to find a new job or more income can help increase your chances of success, according to Winnie Sun, a financial advisor and managing director at Sun Group Wealth Partners in Irvine, California.
These are the tips that Sun said she has been giving clients who are in this situation.

1. Search for Covid-19 assistance

Federal, state and local programs have been put in place to help individuals and families cope with the pandemic.
To find out what might be available to you, Google three words — Covid financial assistance — with your location turned on, Sun said.
Just by doing that search, you should be able to find programs that weren’t previously on your radar, including ones aimed at specific demographics or industries.

2. Seek out temporary income

If you typically work in a field where jobs are no longer available, look for other ways where you can potentially find work quickly, Sun said.
That could include making yourself available for freelance work or one-off tasks.
“The key is to bring in income,” Sun said. “You don’t have to love your source of income right now.”

3. Avoid raiding your retirement benefits

Money you have set aside in a 401(k) or individual retirement account, including Roths, should stay there, if possible.
“That should be seen as a last resort,” Sun said. “I wouldn’t touch that if you could.”
Instead, focus on ways you can bring in more income and reduce your expenses.

4. Tighten your budget

Take a look at how much you’re spending and look for ways to slash your expenses, starting with your biggest costs.
If you live in a two-car household and can survive with just one, consider selling a vehicle or even just temporarily cutting it from your insurance policy, Sun said.
Also look for ways of reducing your overall living expenses, either by moving in with a friend or family member or taking on a roommate to help share your costs.

So often, people think that you should only be talking to us when you have a lot of income and you’re able to invest, and that’s actually not true.

Winnie Sun
managing director at Sun Group Wealth Partners

Once you have tackled those big-ticket items, evaluate whether there are other monthly bills — such as phone, internet or TV streaming subscriptions — that you can reduce or even cut altogether.
Additionally, take a look at items around your house that you don’t need. Everything from old video game consoles to fitness equipment may be able to be sold online.
“Everything that you thought wasn’t worth much, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised that it is online,” Sun said.

5. Make sure you have health insurance

If you lose your job, your employer will make it possible to extend your health insurance. But that program, known as COBRA (named for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985), is often the most expensive choice.
Instead, reach out to your primary care physician and dentist to find out what other forms of insurance they take.

“Oftentimes, they will know other low-cost options that you haven’t even thought about,” Sun said.
One client of Sun’s was able to get emergency dental work and pay 75% less on the costs after she switched to a plan her dentist recommended, she said.

6. Talk to a financial professional

Even if you’re broke, it is still a good idea to reach out to an accountant or financial advisor for help, Sun said.
They may be able to help identify government programs or tax benefits you may now qualify for, she said. Additionally, they can assess which accounts it would be best to draw from in a pinch.
“So often, people think that you should only be talking to us when you have a lot of income and you’re able to invest, and that’s actually not true,” Sun said.

7. Get active on social media

Job applicants take part in a career fair at a Los Angeles post office on Sept. 30, 2021.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

Social media can help you identify sources for work beyond traditional job ads.
Groups on Facebook or LinkedIn for people in your industry or who share your interests may help you find positions listed outside of job boards or connect with professionals who are hiring.
“You might be able to find work, either temporarily or permanently, really quickly,” Sun said.
Also be sure to update your LinkedIn profile to include an avatar showing that you are looking for work. Ask people who you have previously worked with to write references that will be readily available on your profile.

8. Find a recruiter

Many companies that are looking to hire have enlisted recruiters to help them with their searches.
Reaching out to one of those professionals may help you identify opportunities you may not have considered.
Because recruiters are typically paid by hiring companies, that advice typically won’t cost you, Sun said. Plus, it can help you get an in at a company you’re really interested in working for.
“Sometimes it takes a recruiter to represent you best,” Sun said.

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Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday he fully expects families and friends to gather around the holidays this year.
“We’re going to be getting together for Thanksgiving and we’re going to be getting together for Christmas,” the former FDA chief said.
However, Gottlieb said Americans should assess their individual situations and use tools such as Covid testing to create a safe environment.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday that unlike in 2020 he fully expects families and friends to gather around the holidays this year. He also suggested there are ways to do so that can minimize Covid risk.
“Nothing is going to stop us from getting together, and we’re going to be getting together for Thanksgiving and we’re going to be getting together for Christmas,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on “Squawk Box.” He’s now on the board of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer.

Gottlieb’s comments came one day after White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a CBS interview it was “just too soon to tell” whether large group gatherings for Christmas would be safe.
“We’ve just got to concentrate on continuing to get those numbers down and not try to jump ahead by weeks or months and say what we’re going to do at a particular time,” Fauci said on “Face the Nation,” referring to the fact U.S. coronavirus cases surged in recent months due to the highly transmissible delta variant.
“Let’s focus like a laser on continuing to get those cases down, and we can do it by people getting vaccinated and also, in the situation where boosters are appropriate, to get people boosted, because we know they can help greatly in diminishing infection and diminishing advanced disease,” Fauci added.
In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving in order to reduce the risk of coronavirus spread. A similar warning was issued then for the December holidays.
Gottlieb said last year his family did not hold a Thanksgiving gathering due to the pandemic.

On Monday, however, he suggested this fall is different with Covid vaccinations for adults widely available. Gottlieb has also said Pfizer’s coronavirus shot could be authorized on an emergency use basis for kids 5 to 11 as early as Halloween.
Currently, the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is fully approved in the U.S. for people 16 and up and has emergency use authorization for adolescents 12 to 15. Last month, Pfizer boosters for older Americans, at-risk individuals and front-line workers were cleared by the CDC.
Also in the U.S., Moderna’s two-shot Covid vaccine is cleared on emergency use for adults 18 and up. Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine is also on emergency use for adults. Next week, the FDA will meet to consider booster shots for Moderna and J&J recipients.
“I think what people need to do is judge what the prevalence is in their local community and what the risk is within their family setting,” said Gottlieb, who led the FDA from 2017 to 2019 in the Trump administration.
“If you have older individuals, young kids who aren’t vaccinated who could introduce infection into that setting, people should just be prudent,” he added. “Use [Covid] testing as a way to secure that kind of encounter. But there’s nothing that’s going to prevent us from being able to gather around the holidays this year.”

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”

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