Raphael Stevens

New Covid-19 infections in the U.S. will tick higher this fall as the highly contagious delta variant spreads, epidemiologist Dr. Anne Rimoin warned Wednesday. “This variant, the delta variant, is 60% more infectious than the alpha variant, so that just shows you, that if you have the same contact with somebody that you had previously who has Covid, and you’re not vaccinated, you are at substantial risk of getting infected,” Rimoin, a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health, told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.” “It’s a much more serious game now,” Rimoin said.The delta Covid variant accounts for roughly 1 of 5 new cases in the U.S. Those numbers doubled in just a few weeks. Health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, expect the delta variant to become the dominant strain in the U.S. Rimoin emphasized the importance of vaccinations in order to protect against the virus. “It’s really important to keep an eye on this, to get as many people vaccinated, so we can build as much immunity as possible, get in front of this,” Rimoin said. More

A health worker prepares a vial of Chinese Sinovac vaccine against Covid-19 coronavirus disease inside a movie theatre turned into a vaccination center in Taguig City suburban Manila on June 14, 2021.Ted Aljibe | AFP | Getty ImagesSINGAPORE — Asia was the first epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak and could be the last region to emerge from the pandemic — especially with regard to travel, according to the Asia Pacific president of a travel services firm.”Unfortunately, Asia was first … in to the pandemic and we’re predicting that it’s probably going to be last out of the pandemic because of the vaccination rates,” said Todd Handcock of Collinson Group, which offers a slew of travel-related services such as insurance and operating airport lounges.According to Our World in Data, only 22.26% of people in Asia have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. In comparison, that figure is 53.03% in the U.S. and 63.56% in the U.K.The distribution of vaccines globally is very unfair … and Asia is suffering from that, especially Southeast Asia.Alicia Garcia-Herrerochief economist for Asia-Pacific, NatixisHandcock told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday that more people in the U.S., U.K. and Europe are starting to travel again.”We’ve seen good domestic travel actually in markets like China, the United States, Russia, for the last several months,” he said.”But from an international perspective, we’re starting to see, as those markets see increased vaccination rates — U.K. is one of the top leading the world right now — we’re starting to see travel certainly pick up,” he added.Slow vaccination campaignsVaccine rollouts in Asia have been hampered by supply constraints as well as vaccine hesitancy among populations in Asia, according to Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis.”The distribution of vaccines globally is very unfair … and Asia is suffering from that, especially Southeast Asia,” she said on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday.In April, the World Health Organization said more than 87% of the world’s supply of Covid vaccines went to wealthy countries. Poor countries received less than 1% of available doses, the UN health agency said at the time.Beyond that, however, Garcia-Herrero pointed out that there’s a “huge” uneasiness about vaccines in Asia “that somehow we don’t find, say in Europe or in other parts of the world — or at least not to the same degree.”Some parts of Asia including Taiwan and Vietnam were largely successful in containing the virus but have since been hit by a resurgence.A Natixis report published in May said “more effective containment has led to a lower sense of urgency” for vaccines in Asia. That’s apart from skepticism over the newly developed vaccines, the report said.Carrot or stick approach?Some Asian countries have introduced incentives to encourage more to get vaccinated, going beyond the free doughnuts and popcorn offered in the U.S.In Hong Kong, there’s a lucky draw for residents who get inoculated. The top prize? A new one-bedroom apartment worth around 10,800,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1.39 million).India’s largest passenger airline, IndiGo, is giving discounts to customers who have received at least one dose of a vaccine. They can get 10% off the base fare when booking a flight, a press release from the company said.Meanwhile, in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened people with jail time.”You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed,” Duterte said on air on Monday, according to Reuters. That comment came after reports of low turnout at vaccination centers in the capital city of Manila.The president’s statement contradicts instructions from his health officials, who say the vaccine is voluntary, Reuters reported.— CNBC’s Christina Farr, Hannah Miao and Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report. More

The Anthem music venue in Washington, D.C. pleading with the Small Business Administration to release aid for shuttered independent venues.CNBCThe Small Business Administration plans to process most of the aid applications from its Shutter Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program by early July, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said Wednesday.More than 14,000 small businesses across the country who have applied for the grants, according to the SBA.”I was encouraged to hear during a constructive discussion today with Administrator [Isabel] Guzman that SVOG has her full attention, the team implementing the program has been revamped, the agency will work with applicants that simply had technical mistakes, and that SBA will aim to process most applications by early July,” Hagerty in a news release. “The actions and commitments I heard from the Administrator today will hopefully provide struggling venues in Tennessee with more certainty about the funds needed to save their operations,” Hagerty added.The SBA did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on how soon the applications will be processed. The SBA’s $16 billion fund was created to help sustain the industry until in-person entertainment can resume. Music clubs, theaters, promoters and others can access grants of as much as $10 million based on their gross revenue from 2019. The program was included in the second Covid relief package that was signed into law in December.The program’s application portal was snarled by technical glitches. It was launched on April 8 for a few hours before closing without any applications due to the issues. It reopened weeks later after an uproar over the delay, and businesses rushed to resubmit their applications in hopes of getting a much-needed grant.Thousands of businesses are still waiting on their applications. As of midday Monday, the SBA reported 1,445 grants had been awarded for a total of $833.4 million. The agency said in its weekly report that 7,118 applications remain in the submitted phase and 5,853 are in review. The combined requests represent $11.6 billion in grants. One of those businesses that waited a long time for its application to be processed was the North Park Theatre in Buffalo, New York.The venue — a local landmark — was waiting on a grant worth more than $200,000 when CNBC’s reporting on the SVOG program was published earlier this week. The theater got notice on Tuesday that its application was approved.”This is the kind of place you want to see a movie — you’re going to forget about the outside world and escape for a few hours,” said Ray Barker, the theater’s program director. He has been with North Park since the 1990s, when he started as a concession worker. More

In this articleLUVGary Kelly, chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines Co., speaks during an event inside the new Southwest Airlines Co. international terminal at the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas.Carter Smith | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesSouthwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly will step down next year, capping more than 17 years at the helm, where he grew the carrier and guided it through crises from the Great Recession to the Covid-19 pandemic.The Dallas-based airline named more than three-decade company veteran Bob Jordan, executive vice president of corporate services, as Kelly’s successor, tasking him with leading the company’s recovery. He will start Feb. 1, 2022.”I think now is really the perfect time,” Kelly, 66, said in an interview. “We’ve stabilized.”Kelly will hold the role of executive chairman until “at least” 2026, the company said.Kelly has been in the top job at the airline during the financial crisis, a merger, an aggressive expansion and the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max. The pandemic devastated travel demand and last year pushed Southwest to its first annual loss since 1972.Southwest is now trying to regain its footing and capitalize on a jump in travel demand. That surge is coming from U.S. domestic leisure customers. Southwest’s focus as it carries more U.S. passengers than any other airline.Southwest last month reported an uptick in revenue over the past several months and posted a profit for the first quarter of the year — the first of the major U.S. airlines to do so — thanks to more than $1 billion in federal aid.Jordan, 60, has led its 2011 acquisition of rival AirTran, Southwest’s frequent flyer program, e-commerce platform most recently, a employee buyouts and other voluntary programs to cut labor costs during the pandemic, Southwest said.”We’re exiting the pandemic in really good shape, especially compared to our competitors,” Jordan told CNBC.He said he expects Southwest to get to cash breakeven, “maybe a little better,” in June.Southwest lacks the sprawling global networks of its competitors that they slashed due to the pandemic and a host of travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus.Jordan started at Southwest in 1988 and has held roles including controller, director of revenue accounting and chief commercial officer.”While out of the ‘spotlight’ over the last few years as EVP of Corporate Services, Mr. Jordan’s accomplishments are long and extensive,” Daniel McKenzie, Seaport Research Partners airline analyst, wrote in a note Wednesday. He has a buy rating and a $73 price target on Southwest’s stock. The company’s shares closed at $55.19, down 1%, a bigger drop than competitors. “Net/net, the change in leadership does not lead to a change in our thesis that LUV remains a great longer-term story,” wrote McKenzie.Southwest President Tom Nealon and Chief Operations Officer Mike Van de Ven were considered ready for the top job, but the carrier choose Jordan, Kelly said.”The hardest part of this, bluntly, has been choosing,” said Kelly. He said the other two executives are staying on in their current roles. “We’re not breaking up the band here.”Successor’s prioritiesJordan said in an interview that his priorities include repairing Southwest’s balance sheetSouthwest ended the last quarter with $15.3 billion in liquidity and $10.8 billion in debt. U.S. carriers added $58 billion in debt last year to weather the effects of the crisis.Jordan said another priority over the next year will be hiring employees to help support the increase in travel demand. The carrier is calling back employees who took leaves of absence, at the company’s urging, and reaching out to new candidates.In the coming months, the airline will examine booking trends after the peak summer travel season. Southwest added 18 new destinations during the pandemic, from cities in Hawaii to Florida as it went after leisure customers seeking outdoor destinations. That fast-paced expansion will likely cool, Jordan said.”There’s still a lot of work to do to come out of the pandemic,” Jordan said. “You got to play a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense.” More

The Federal Reserve doesn’t need to try to cool down the hot U.S. housing market with higher rates, even as home prices keep rising, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday.”I don’t want to repeat the mistakes that led to the financial crisis,” the “Mad Money” host said. “Unlike the lead-up to the great recession, homebuyers are actually solvent right now with excellent credit and strong stock portfolios.”In the lead-up to the financial crisis, regulators failed to enforce lending standards as buyers became overleveraged on their purchases, Cramer said. The Fed then stepped in to cool down the market by jacking up the federal funds rate more than a dozen times.But Cramer pointed out that lending standards are more stringent now, and low mortgage rates coupled with pandemic lockdowns spurred a frenzy in homebuying. Millennials have emerged as the largest cohort of buyers on the market after years of delaying homeownership for various reasons — including the impact of the 2008 financial crisis — he added.Cramer also noted that the real estate market — known for being cyclical in nature — has turned into a secular growth story amid low borrowing rates, sparse inventory and pent-up demand from millennial buyers. “The Fed can try to slam the brakes on the economy by raising interest rates, but millennials have been stuck living in their parents’ basements for years,” he said. “After a decade getting over the financial crisis, they’ve finally got the capital to buy their own homes.”The median selling price of a home in the U.S. for the first time rose above $350,000 in May, up almost 25% from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.Economists have associated the surging costs to purchase a home with the low supply of existing homes on the market. Meanwhile, homebuilders like Toll Brothers think it will take years before supply meets demand.Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected] More

A CDC safety group said there’s a “likely association” between a rare heart inflammatory condition in adolescents and young adults mostly after they’ve received their second Covid-19 vaccine shot, citing the most recent data available.There have been more than 1,200 cases of a myocarditis or pericarditis mostly in people 30 and under who received Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid vaccine, according to a series of slide presentations published Wednesday for a meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle, while pericarditis is the inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart.”Clinical presentation of myocarditis cases following vaccination has been distinct, occurring most often within one week after dose two, with chest pain as the most common presentation,” said Dr. Grace Lee, who chairs the committee’s safety group. CDC officials are gathering more data to fully understand the potential risks, how to manage it and whether there are any long-term issues, she said.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsCDCThe agency said there have been 267 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis reported after receiving one dose of the mRNA vaccines and 827 reported cases after two doses through June 11. There are 132 additional cases where the number of doses received is unknown, the CDC said.Roughly 300 million of the shots had been administered as of June 11, the agency said.”This is still a rare event,” Dr. Tom Shimabukuro said at the meeting. For both vaccines combined, there were 12.6 heart inflammation cases per million doses. The cases were more frequent among Moderna’s vaccine recipients at 19.8 cases per million versus eight cases per million for Pfizer’s, he said.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:CDC group says there isn’t enough data yet to recommend Covid booster shots CDC group finds likely link between rare heart inflammation after Covid shotFauci says delta accounts for 20% of new cases and will be dominant Covid variant in U.S. in weeks Fauci declares delta variant ‘greatest threat’ to the nation’s efforts to eliminate Covid Men under 30 make up the bulk of the cases, the CDC said, and most cases appear to be mild. Of the 295 people who have developed the condition and have been discharged, 79% of them have fully recovered, according to the presentation. Nine people were hospitalized, with two in intensive care as of June 11, according to the agency.CDC officials said the benefits of getting the Covid vaccine still outweigh the risks.Cases among younger people are on the rise as older people get vaccinated at higher rates. The U.S. has vaccinated 177.6 million people with at least one dose, roughly 53% of the population, according to the CDC. Just 13.6% of 18- to-24-year-olds have had at least one vaccine dose in the U.S., compared with 26% of people ages 50 to 64, the data shows.While older age groups have seen hospitalization rates fall, they’ve barely budged among adolescents and young adults, said the CDC’s Dr. Megan Wallace.”Adolescents and young adults make up a greater proportion of total cases; 33% of cases reported in May were in persons aged 12 to 29 years, compared with 28% last December,” she said. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 2,767 people ages 12 to 29 years old have died from Covid, she said, noting that 316 of those fatalities have happened since April 1.After Wednesday’s meeting, the Department of Health and Human Services released a statement co-signed by the CDC and several medical professional groups that stressed the heart condition is extremely rare.”Only an exceedingly small number of people will experience it after vaccination,” HHS said. “Importantly, for the young people who do, most cases are mild, and individuals recover often on their own or with minimal treatment. In addition, we know that myocarditis and pericarditis are much more common if you get COVID-19, and the risks to the heart from COVID-19 infection can be more severe.”The CDC is coordinating its investigation with the Food and Drug Administration, which last month authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adolescents ages 12 to 15. Symptoms, which include chest pain and shortness of breath, typically develop within a week of receiving the shot with most developing within four days, the agency said.– CNBC’s Rich Mendez contributed to this article.Correction: The majority of cases of people who experienced myocarditis occurred in people 30 years old and under. An earlier version misstated the age. The number of cases per million doses administered was 12.6. An earlier version misstated the figure. More

In this articleKHCThe head of Kraft Heinz’s U.S. business told CNBC on Wednesday that rising price pressures during the Covid pandemic have so far been “manageable” for the food and beverage giant.”From our perspective, it looks manageable, the inflation that we’re seeing so far,” Carlos Abrams-Rivera said in an interview on “Power Lunch.” “For us it’s around mid-single digits in terms of our overall net inflation, and it’s really coming outside of our big three commodities of coffee, meat and cheese.”Inflation has been one of the key concerns for the U.S. economy, as more activity resumes from pandemic-related disruptions.Some companies, such as Coca-Cola, have raised the prices of their products to offset higher commodity costs. Data from the Labor Department shows that in May, consumer prices rose at their fastest pace since 2008.Abrams-Rivera said Kraft Heinz has a “three-pronged approach” to manage inflationary pressures. The first, he said, is a goal of delivering about $400 million in efficiencies across the company by year-end, which are “helping us manage through this.”Another focus is on renovating the company’s brands — which include Oscar Mayer, Velveeta and Maxwell House — to continue appealing to consumers and retain a strong pricing power, Abrams-Rivera said. He said Kraft Heinz will have renovated 45% of its U.S. portfolio by the end of 2021 and 90% next year.Kraft Heinz had aimed to eliminate 1,100 products — or 20% of its business — by the end of 2020, in an effort to attract more customers. Trimming down the portfolio was intended to make the company’s supply chain more efficient and cut down on sales cannibalization, Abrams-Rivera previously told CNBC.The third pillar to Kraft Heinz’s approach to inflation includes looking at how products are packaged, he said.For example, “we’re looking at larger sizes in some of our packs to bring a better value for consumers,” he said, as well as trying to provide lower-cost options.”So, things like … Lunchables — we actually launched a new $1 pack also,” he said. “Having options for consumers at different levels that allows us to have a good value is also part of how we’re managing through this whole inflation situation we’re seeing.”More broadly, Abrams-Rivera said, the behavior shifts that occurred during the pandemic — people spending more time at home and eating together more — are likely to stick around and Kraft Heinz hopes to capitalize on it.Consumers have also made huge investments in their home through renovations and started to cook more, he said. “That is a place where we can bring a different scale and a different benefit that allows us to continue growing in a way that nobody else can.” More