Raphael Stevens

A beneficiary gets vaccinated by health staff during a pan India Covid-19 vaccination drive at Aundh district hospital, on January 16, 2021 in Pune, India.Pratham Gokhale | Hindustan Times | Getty ImagesIndia reported more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases over a 24-hour period for the third time this week as South Asia’s most populous country pushes ahead with its vaccination campaign.There were 126,789 new cases reported on Thursday, according to government data. Over 80% of those cases were from ten states including the hard-hit western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital, Mumbai.Since the start of April, India has reported more than 779,000 cases, with Maharashtra accounting for just over half of them.Local authorities in Maharashtra have stepped up restrictions, including night curfews where only essential services are allowed to remain open. Other states are also preemptively increasing restrictions as worries mount over a potential shortage in hospital beds and doctors.Vaccine shortageIndia’s mass inoculation campaign, which began in January, has accelerated in recent weeks. Starting in April, anyone over 45 is eligible for their shots. Government data showed as of Thursday, more than 90 million vaccine doses have been administered.But, media reports this week said that several states, including Maharashtra, have warned that they are running out of vaccine stock at a crucial juncture where cases are climbing rapidly.In response, the Indian government accused some states, including Maharashtra, of diverting attention away from their failure to control the virus outbreak.”Vaccine supplies are being monitored on a real-time basis, and State governments are being apprised regularly about it,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in a statement Wednesday. “Allegations of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless.”Proper distribution neededIndia is manufacturing enough vaccines per month to inoculate people over the age of 45, according to Randeep Guleria, director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and a member of the Indian government’s Covid-19 task force.”These vaccines are being manufactured and there is enough stock on a monthly basis. It’s an issue that they have to be distributed regularly to all areas and as states start distributing, they have to make sure that there is equitable distribution depending upon the demand,” Guleria said Thursday on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.””In terms of actual numbers, if you do the (math), the shortage is not there, it’s the distribution that has to be done in a proper manner,” he said.Guleria added the situation in Maharashtra as well as in some of other states is such that some areas have a high uptake of vaccines and in others, there is vaccine hesitancy and stock lying around.Serum Institute’s ‘stressed’ production capacityBut the Serum Institute of India, which is manufacturing one of the country’s two approved vaccines — AstraZeneca’s shot, known locally as Covishield — has a different view of things.Serum Institute boss Adar Poonawalla told Indian media that the company’s production capacity is “very stressed.” He said the vaccine manufacturer needs about $400 million to ramp up capacity by June.He revealed to the Business Standard that AstraZeneca sent Serum Institute a legal notice for delays in supplying vaccines abroad. In February, Poonawalla said that his company had been directed to prioritize India’s vaccine needs and asked foreign governments to be patient.Guleria said that other manufacturers who make vaccines are being tapped to chip in and help step up production. He added that India might soon approve a third vaccine — the Russian-made Sputnik V, which will be produced by pharmaceutical firm Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. More

Japan is working closely with the International Olympic Committee to prepare for the Games and despite concerns about Covid-19 cases flaring, there are no plans to postpone, said Japan’s minister in charge of vaccinations.”Unless they decide otherwise, we just simply need to prepare for the Games, how to control the situation. I think it changes almost every day, so they need to be prepared for that. But I don’t think they are thinking about postponing it,” Taro Kono told CNBC’s Martin Soong on Wednesday.The Olympic torch was taken off the public streets of Osaka on Wednesday as the prefecture declared a state of emergency after coronavirus cases reached record highs.”Yes, (the) situation in Osaka is especially worrying,” said Kono, who is also minister of regulatory reform. A new virus variant similar to the one first discovered in the U.K. is “quickly spreading” in Osaka, he added.”We have identified a similar mutation in Tokyo, so we are worried (that) Tokyo may follow Osaka in a couple of weeks. So we really need to be paying attention to the situation,” he said.A man wearing a face mask stands behind the Olympic symbols of the five interlaced rings pictured near the National Stadium in Tokyo.James Matsumoto, SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty ImagesOsaka’s population is much smaller than Tokyo’s, but the city reported 878 new cases on April 7, compared to 555 in Tokyo on the same day.The Summer Olympics are due to kick off officially in Tokyo on July 23, a little more than 100 days away. They were delayed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.Still, the Games will be very much scaled back compared to previous years, as international spectators have been barred from entering the country due to concerns about over Covid-19.”Well, unfortunately, we may not have so many spectators watching the game at the stadium but most of the people are going to be watching on television anyway,” Kono said.Delays in Japan’s vaccine rolloutJapan is set to vaccinate the country’s senior citizens from Monday, moving into the next stage of its vaccine rollout that has been hampered by delays in vaccine deliveries.Less than 1% of the population has been vaccinated so far, according to Kono — but he’s hopeful that inoculations will move into full swing in mid-May when vaccines from the European Union arrive.”Unfortunately, we have not been able to develop a vaccine domestically, and we need to rely on import of (the) vaccine coming from EU,” Kono said. “Right now, we have authorized the Pfizer vaccine and it’s going to start for the senior citizens next Monday.”He said the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca will be “very important” because it is going to be manufactured in Japan, which would cut out some negotiations.His interview took place hours before the medicine regulators in the EU and the U.K. announced Wednesday that there could be a possible link between the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and rare blood clotting issues. Both regulators, however, pointed out that the benefits of getting the vaccine still outweigh the risks.My job is to get the vaccine coming to Japan from Europe, and (to) get as many people as possible vaccinated.Taro KonoJapan’s vaccine minister”The biggest headache for me is to go through (the) EU transparency mechanism,” Kono said, referring to a measure that allows European Union member states to impose restrictions on vaccine exports.”If we have (a) domestic vaccine or domestically produced vaccine … more than half of my headache (would be) gone,” he said.Asked if his handling of Japan’s coronavirus outbreak could affect his chances of being the next prime minister, Kono was dismissive.”My job is to get the vaccine coming to Japan from Europe, and (to) get as many people as possible vaccinated,” he said. “You don’t have to think about the premiership. You just have to do your job, to protect the (lives) of the people.” More

In this articleOKTAOkta sees big growth ahead as it expands its service offerings.The cybersecurity company said Wednesday it expects revenue for the fiscal year to grow by 30% as it unveiled two new products, one in “privileged access management” and another in “identity governance and administration.”Privileged access seeks to protect data from being hacked within an organization, while identity governance and administration was designed to streamline how an organization decides what information users have access to on its servers.The addition of these new tools also increase Okta’s business opportunity by more than 20%, CEO Todd McKinnon told CNBC’s Jim Cramer. “We have a massive addressable market,” McKinnon said in a “Mad Money” interview. “As everything moves to the cloud, as companies need to connect with their customers through digital channels, as everyone is worried about security, this massive $80 billion TAM (total addressable market) is the foundation for sustained growth for a long time period.”Okta provides security tools to authenticate users, such as password authorizations, accessing online networks.In privileged access management and identity governance and administration, Cramer noted the company will be getting into markets dominated by CyberArk and SailPoint Technologies. Okta also partners with both firms.McKinnon suggested the identity governance and privileged access services market opportunity adds up to $15 billion.”There’s enough room for a lot of vendors to go after it. We’re going after it from a very cloud-centric approach,” he said. “We’ll continue to work with these partners, while at the same time doing what our customers are asking us. That is cover all their identity use cases.”Okta is projecting total revenues to reach as high as $1.09 billion in its current fiscal year. The company reported $835.4 million in revenues in the previous fiscal year, which ended Jan 31.Growth has steadily slowed down in recent years. Okta posted revenue growth of 42.5% in the fiscal 2021, down from 53.6% in fiscal 2019.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

Molecular model of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike (S) protein (red) with the B.1.531 and B.1.1.7 variant mutation sites highlighted. S proteins are found in the viral membrane, they bind to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 receptors (ACE2, blue) on host cell membranes and facilitate the virus’s entry to the cell.Juan Gaertner | Science Photo Library | Getty ImagesThe highly contagious variant first identified in the U.K. is now the most common Covid strain circulating in the U.S., the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is “now the most common lineage circulating in the United States.” CDC Director Dr. Rachelle Walensky said during a White House briefing. “Testing remains an important strategy to rapidly identify and isolate infectious individuals, including those with variants of concern,” Walensky said.The U.K. identified B.1.1.7, which appears to be more deadly and spread more easily than other strains, last fall. It has since spread to other parts of the globe, including the United States, which has identified 16,275 cases across 52 jurisdictions as of Tuesday, according to the CDC.Florida has the most confirmed cases of the new variant, according to a map of the CDC data, followed closely by Michigan, Wisconsin, California and Colorado. Public health officials say they are working as quickly as possible to identify more cases.Last week, Walensky said the B.1.1.7 strain was starting to become the predominant strain in many regions of the U.S., accounting for 26% of Covid-19 cases circulating across the nation. She urged the public to continue pandemic safety measures, such as washing hands, wearing masks and practicing social distancing.”This is a critical moment in our fight against the pandemic,” Walensky said last week “We can’t afford to let our guard down.”CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:EU and UK regulators confirm link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clotsSome people with ‘long Covid’ say their symptoms ease after getting vaccineHospitals are seeing more young adults with severe Covid symptoms, CDC saysU.S. begins study assessing allergic reactions to Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccinesU.S. surpasses 150 million vaccine shots under Biden, on track to hit president’s new 200 million shots goalCoronavirus case counts remain far off their peak January levels, but slightly above the most recent low point in late March. The seven-day average of daily new cases is 64,700, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, a level similar to what the country saw during the summer surge.Even as the pace of vaccinations picks up, highly contagious variants are rapidly spreading and could potentially stall the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.Walensky said Wednesday that the U.S. must accelerate its vaccination efforts, which were averaging about 3.1 million shots per day as of Monday. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced that states should open Covid-19 vaccine appointments to all U.S. adults by April 19, moving up his original deadline by nearly two weeks.”We must continue to vaccinate as many Americans as we can each day,” Walensky said, adding it will cause new cases and deaths to decline.– CNBC’s Nate Rattner contributed to this report. More

Syringes are filled with Astrazeneca’s vaccine at the pharmacy.Christopher Neundorf | picture alliance | Getty ImagesLONDON — Europe’s medicines regulator found a possible link between the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and rare blood clotting issues — though it said the benefits of getting the shot still outweigh its risks.Unusual blood clotting with low blood platelets will be added as a “very rare” side effect to the vaccine’s product information, along with a slew of other possible adverse reactions, Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Medicines Agency, said in a televised news conference Wednesday.The warning comes after the regulator’s safety committee reviewed extremely rare cases of unusual blood clots in some people vaccinated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot. Most of the cases occurred in women under 60 within two weeks of the shot, officials said. The EMA hasn’t yet identified specific risk factors that contributed to the phenomenon.CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:EU and UK regulators confirm link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clotsSome people with ‘long Covid’ say their symptoms ease after getting vaccineHospitals are seeing more young adults with severe Covid symptoms, CDC saysU.S. begins study assessing allergic reactions to Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccinesU.S. surpasses 150 million vaccine shots under Biden, on track to hit president’s new 200 million shots goalResearchers also don’t know what’s specifically causing the blood clots, but one plausible explanation is that the vaccine causes an immune response in some people that’s similar to one seen in patients treated with heparin, which is called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, Cooke said.”This case clearly demonstrates one of the challenges posed with large-scale vaccination campaigns,” she said. “When millions of people receive these vaccines, very rare events can occur that were not identified in the clinical trials.” Separately, the U.K.’s medicine regulator said on Wednesday that it also identified a possible link between the shot and the rare blood clots. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, similarly said the benefits of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine outweighed the risks for most people.Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said people under 30 who don’t have any underlying health conditions should get a different vaccine if possible.Other side effectsThe EMA, which flagged other possible side effects, added that it was of “great importance” that health-care professionals and people receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were aware of the risks and to watch for possible symptoms that typically occur in the first two weeks after inoculation.”These include, for example, shortness of breath, chest pain, swelling in the leg, persistent abdominal pain, neurological symptoms including severe or persistent headache or blurred vision and skin bruising beyond the site of injection,” Dr. Sabine Straus, chair of EMA’s safety committee, said at the same news conference. Those side effects will be listed as possible adverse drug reactions on the vaccine’s product information, she said.Shares of AstraZeneca closed down around 1% in London.Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the U.K.’s deputy chief medical officer, described the country’s new advice on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a “course correction” for the U.K.The MHRA, the body that approved it for use in the U.K., has been looking at the data following the reports — both in the U.K. and in continental Europe — of serious but rare blood clots, some of which have been fatal.A U.K. trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on children had already been paused while the medicines regulator investigated a possible link between the shot and the blood clotting disorders, specifically, cases of blood clots in veins within the brain, known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) as well as thrombocytopenia (low levels of blood platelets which help the blood to clot).The U.K. government noted that, up to and including March 24, there had been 22 reports of CVST and eight reports of other thrombosis events with low platelets, out of a total of 18.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine (a two-dose shot) given by that date.Ongoing safety concernsThe Oxford-AstraZeneca shot has been dogged by safety concerns in recent weeks, with several European countries briefly suspending their use of the vaccine last month.The EMA said on March 31 that it had found the shot to be safe and effective, but added it could not rule out the possibility of a causal link between the vaccine and clotting events so would continue to investigate.The World Health Organization, the U.K.’s medicines regulator and the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis have all said that the benefits of administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot far outweigh the risks.People wait in a vaccination center in Cologne, Germany on April 5, 2021.Marius Becker | picture alliance | Getty ImagesAstraZeneca has previously said its studies have found no higher risk of blood clots as a result of its vaccine.Most countries have since resumed use of the shot but many have suspended inoculations across certain age groups.The EMA had denied any known link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot and rare blood clots before Tuesday when a senior official at Europe’s medicines regulator reportedly said there is a clear “association” between the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and very rare blood clots in the brain.In an interview with Italian newspaper Il Messaggero published Tuesday, Marco Cavaleri, chair of the EMA’s vaccine evaluation team, said: “In my opinion we can now say it, it is clear that there is an association with the vaccine. However, we still do not know what causes this reaction.”— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report. More

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (left) and Moderna COVID-19 (right) vaccines.Matic Zorman | Getty ImagesThe National Institutes of Health said Wednesday it has begun looking at why some people have suffered from severe allergic reactions shortly after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.”The public understandably has been concerned about reports of rare, severe allergic reactions to the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the NIH, said in a statement.”The information gathered during this trial will help doctors advise people who are highly allergic or have a mast cell disorder about the risks and benefits of receiving these two vaccines. However, for most people, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination far outweigh the risks,” he said.CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:EU and UK regulators confirm link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clotsSome people with ‘long Covid’ say their symptoms ease after getting vaccineHospitals are seeing more young adults with severe Covid symptoms, CDC saysU.S. begins study assessing allergic reactions to Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccinesU.S. surpasses 150 million vaccine shots under Biden, on track to hit president’s new 200 million shots goalMedical experts say allergic reactions from vaccines are rare but can sometimes happen. Most of the rare, severe allergic reactions to the vaccines have occurred in people with a history of allergies, public health officials have said. An immediate allergic reaction usually happens within 4 hours of getting vaccinated and may include symptoms such as hives, swelling and wheezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The CDC said in January allergic reactions are occurring at a rate of 11.1 per 1 million vaccinations for the Pfizer shot and 2.5 per 1 million for the Moderna shot.The NIH study will enroll 3,400 adults ages 18 to 69 at up to 35 academic allergy-research centers nationwide, the agency said. Participants will be divided into groups and be assigned at random to receive either the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, a placebo followed by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or a placebo followed by the Moderna vaccine.Alkis Togias, chief of the NIAID’s allergy, asthma and airway biology branch, told CNBC in December that researchers at the U.S. agency became interested in the rare phenomenon after reports that a few people had reactions to Pfizer’s vaccine that qualified as anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.The CDC has been asking health-care providers to monitor patients for 15 minutes after vaccination and 30 minutes for those who have a history of allergic reactions.If someone has a severe allergic reaction after getting the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the CDC recommends that they do not get the second dose of that vaccine, even if the allergic reaction was not severe enough to require emergency care. More