Raphael Stevens

In this articleBNTXPFEMRNAJNJA healthcare worker prepares a Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in Los Angeles, California, January 7, 2021.Lucy Nicholson | ReutersPfizer said it has started a clinical trial testing its Covid-19 vaccine on healthy 6-month to 11-year old children, a crucial step in obtaining federal regulatory clearance to start vaccinating young kids and controlling the pandemic.The first participants in the study have already gotten their shots, which were developed in partnership with German drugmaker BioNTech, New York-based Pfizer announced Thursday. It intends to enroll 144 children in the first phase.For the first phase of the trial, the company will identify the preferred dosing level for three age groups – between 6 months and 2 years old, 2 and 5 and from 5 through age 11. The kids will begin by receiving a 10 microgram dose of the vaccine before progressively moving to higher doses, Pfizer said. Participants also have the option to take 3 microgram doses. The Covid vaccine for adults requires two shots that contain 30 micrograms per dose.Researchers will then evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the selected dose levels in the next phase of the trial, with participants being randomly selected to receive the vaccine or a placebo, the company said. After a six-month follow-up, kids who received a placebo will have the opportunity to receive the vaccine, it said.CNBC Health & ScienceRead CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Data, doubts and disputes: A timeline of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine problemCompensation for victims of Covid vaccine injuries is limitedCovid live updates:  Latest news on the coronavirus pandemic”Pfizer has deep experience in advancing clinical trials of vaccines in children and infants and is committed to improving the health and well-being of children through thoughtfully designed clinical trials,” the company said in a statement.Pfizer’s vaccine has already been authorized for use in the U.S. in Americans who are 16 and older. Clinical trial studies testing the vaccine in kids, whose immune systems can respond differently than adults, still need to be completed.Vaccinating children is crucial to ending the pandemic, public health officials and infectious disease experts say. The U.S. is unlikely to achieve herd immunity – or when enough people in a given community have antibodies against a specific disease – until children can get vaccinated. Children make up roughly 20% of the U.S. population, according to government data.In late January, Pfizer said it had fully enrolled its Covid-19 vaccine trial in kids ages 12 to 15. The company said Thursday it is “encouraged” by the data in that cohort and said it hopes to share additional details on the trial “soon.”Moderna, which also has a vaccine authorized in the U.S., said on March 16 that it had begun testing its shot in children under age 12. Moderna in December began a study testing kids ages 12 to 17.Johnson & Johnson plans to test its single-shot vaccine in infants and even in newborns, after testing it first in older children, according to The New York Times.The White House’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told a House committee earlier this month that the U.S. could begin vaccinating older kids against Covid-19 this fall while elementary-aged children may start getting their shots early next year.Pfizer’s announcement comes two days after it said it began an early stage clinical trial of an experimental oral antiviral drug that could be used at the first sign of Covid infection.Health experts say the world will still need an array of drugs and vaccines to end the pandemic, which has infected more than 30 million Americans and killed at least 545,282 in a little over a year, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More

In this articleNPAUULMTSpace-based broadband provider OneWeb launched another 36 satellites successfully on Thursday, moving the company closer to beginning initial service from its growing network in orbit.Comparisons abound between the developing systems of OneWeb and SpaceX’s Starlink, as both are building constellations with numerous satellites in low Earth orbit that provide internet service to anywhere on Earth from space.But OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson, who joined the company in November after its emergence from last year’s bankruptcy, does not see Elon Musk’s space business as a direct competitor despite the comparisons. Putting it simply, Masterson said that OneWeb’s “approach to the market is just very different” versus Starlink, with the former focused on enterprise customers and the latter going direct to consumers’ households.”There are some areas where we will compete, I suspect, particularly around serving governments, but governments will always buy more than one service,” Masterson told CNBC. “I think there’ll be multiple players who will be able to be able to be successful in addressing their market.”The satellite-based field of data communications continues to broaden even beyond Starlink. OneWeb faces competition from fellow enterprise-focused satellite service Telesat, as well as from Lockheed Martin’s recent partnership with space-based 5G startup Omnispace and the plans of satellite-to-smartphone specialist AST & Science.CEO Neil MastersonOneWebWhile Masterson acknowledge that he pays close attention to both likely and potential competitors — “you’ve got to be paranoid” — his focus remains on getting OneWeb to market and executing its rollout plan. OneWeb’s satellite network is a business-to-business model, planning to deliver service through existing telecommunications companies, internet service providers, and other distributors.OneWeb’s “proposition is very simple,” Masterson said: “We provide fiber where there is no fiber,” whether that’s cellular backhaul, acting as an emergency backup, or building WiFi networks for remote factories and manufacturing.”One of the reasons we’re going down that sort of B2B route is because we think that those players already working in those markets and communities … understand the price points of the end consumers really well,” Masterson said. “Those price points [can be] very different in different parts of the world.”The U.K. is working on a new $6.9 billion internet infrastructure program called ‘Project Gigabit,” with government leaders meeting with SpaceX among a number of technology companies. While Masterson declined to comment specifically on whether OneWeb was also speaking with Project Gigabit leadership, he did say that the company “has been speaking to various elements of the government” and other organizations in the U.K. market.Notably, the U.K. government is part of OneWeb’s ownership, having joined Indian telecommunications conglomerate Bharti Global in investing $1 billion to finance OneWeb’s return from bankruptcy. OneWeb raised another $400 million in January from Hughes Network Systems and SoftBank Group, with the latter a return investor — as SoftBank had invested $2 billion into OneWeb before its bankruptcy.”This is a highly regulated business and it requires market access in different parts of the world and good relationships with regulators,” Masterson said. “Having a flag behind us is really helpful, and Bharti brings incredible telco-know-how, execution capability and scale.”A stack of 36 OneWeb satellites being prepared ahead of its launch on March 25, 2020.ArianespaceOneWeb now has 148 satellites in orbit, with the network planned to have 648 satellites to provide global service. OneWeb expects to be able to begin offering regional service by the end of the year to northern reaches of the world — above 50 degrees latitude, with targeted regions including the U.K., Europe, Greenland, Canada and Alaska — after three more launches.Masterson said OneWeb plans to open a demonstration site in the U.K. in April, to begin showing its telecommunications customers tests of OneWeb’s capabilities. The next phase of OneWeb’s growth will look to the area effectively between South Africa and the Earth’s South Pole, with plans for service in places such as Australia.”I’ve been nose to the grindstone [since arrive in November], making sure we were setting our priorities and we’re moving forward,” Masterson said. “But I would say that, without exception, the conversations and interactions I’ve had with customers have been very positive. There’s no doubt to me that demand’s there.” More

In this articleGMEGetty ImagesIt’s not investing that is viewed skeptically, it’s the system.More than half (56%) of people who have money in stocks think the market is rigged against individual investors, according to a survey from Bankrate. That’s compared to 41% of non-investors who say the same thing.”Part of it may have to do with expectations,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate. “Newer investors may be trying to score big gains or time the market and the odds are not for long-term success with those endeavors.”More from Personal Finance:Buying a Tesla with bitcoin could mean a tax billHow Social Security benefits are handled at deathIRS has issued more than 42.5 million refundsAt the same time, he said, retail investors have seen hedge funds and other sophisticated or wealthy investors treated differently, such as getting early access to initial public offerings and better trade execution.”Newer investors are seeing those things, and that can sow the seeds of doubt about the integrity or fairness of the markets,” McBride said.The poll of 2,525 U.S. adults was taken in late February, about a month after a runup in so-called meme stocks, including Gamestop — whose share price peaked at $347 on Jan. 27 after trading at about $31 two weeks earlier. The surge was attributed to an army of Reddit investors forcing hedge funds that were banking on the stock dropping — known as short-selling — to instead buy shares at a higher price.Amid the frenzy, Robinhood, the popular trading application used by individual investors, restricted trades in Gamestop and some other stocks. The company was accused by its users and lawmakers of protecting hedge funds that were short sellers of those stocks. Robinhood said the move was made to meet regulatory requirements applying to financial reserves, not to benefit any particular group of investors.The Bankrate survey also explored how individuals are investing now versus before the pandemic. “What we saw was that Reddit users were two times more likely to be investing more rather than less, compared to before the pandemic,” McBride said. More

A person walks by Broadway posters near Times Square as theaters remain closed following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on January 15, 2021 in New York City.Cindy Ord | Getty ImagesNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is setting his sights on September as the month that the city’s coveted Broadway theaters will be able to reopen.During a daily briefing Thursday, de Blasio outlined a plan to vaccinate theater workers so that the district and its shows could begin running again this fall.”The show must go on,” he said. “And the show will go on.”In addition to mass vaccinations, de Blasio said the city is working on ways to increase Covid-19 testing near the theaters and create plans to manage crowds before and after a show.Broadway has been shuttered for more than a year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, crippling the local economy. In a traditional year, the theater industry in New York funds nearly 100,000 jobs and pumps nearly $15 billion into the local economy.For now, Broadway’s 41 theaters will remain closed through at least May 30, but it is likely that date will be pushed back again to be more in line with de Blasio’s time table.There will also likely be some capacity restrictions on the theaters when they are able to reopen, unless there is a significant drop in the number of coronavirus cases. Movie theaters, for example, are currently only able to house 25% to 50% of potential audiences. More

In this articleUALAALDALJBLUJetBlue Airways aircrafts are pictured at departure gates at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.Fred Prouser | ReutersJetBlue Airways wants customers to book more than flights.The New York-based airline on Thursday launched a new site, Paisly, that offers travelers hotel rooms, car rentals and other add-ons, like tickets to theme parks.The carrier will continue to offer packaged trips under JetBlue Vacations, a similar product offered by rivals like Delta, American and United, but the new site will give the option of adding on other activities or lodging later.JetBlue is also planning to offer home rentals through partnerships with property managers, said Andres Barry, president of JetBlue Travel Products. The carrier is also planning to expand lodging and other offerings as it adds new cities to its network, like London.”We know there’s a segment of customers who are not interested in buying their entire trip all at once before travel,” Barry said in an interview.Last-minute trips have become more common during the Covid-19 pandemic as travelers navigate ever-changing travel restrictions, closures and infection rates.Once travelers book their flights, JetBlue plans to send follow-up emails to travelers who booked flights to encourage travelers to book other options.”It’s not like we’re putting every potential option in front of them,” said Barry.JetBlue will have dedicated customer service agents for customers who book add-ons on the Paisly site. More

Diners wearing protective masks wait outside an Olive Garden restaurant in Thornton, Colorado, on Friday, March 19, 2021.Chet Strange | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesDarden Restaurants on Thursday reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ expectations as customers visited Olive Garden and its other chains more than expected.The company is forecasting that its fiscal fourth-quarter results will show it’s well on the way to recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.Shares of the company surged 4.5% in premarket trading.Here’s what the company reported for the quarter ended Feb. 28 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:Earnings per share: 98 cents vs. 69 cents expectedRevenue: $1.73 billion vs. $1.63 billion expectedThe company reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $128.7 million, or 98 cents per share, down from $232.3 million, or $1.89 per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of 69 cents per share.Net sales fell 26.1% to $1.73 billion, topping expectations of $1.63 billion. Darden’s total same-store sales fell 26.7% during the quarter, down from the fiscal second quarter’s same-store sales declines of 20.6%. During the three months ended Feb. 28, many states imposed stricter mandates for restaurants as new Covid-19 cases surged, hurting sales for the overall industry.Olive Garden, which accounts for roughly half of Darden’s revenue, reported same-store sales declines of 25.8%. LongHorn Steakhouse is bouncing back more quickly, with a same-store sales decline of just 12.6%.Darden’s fine-dining business, which includes The Capital Grille, remains the hardest hit by the pandemic. Its same-store sales plunged 45.2%, declining more steeply than the prior quarter.For Darden’s fiscal fourth quarter, the company is predicting total sales of $2.1 billion and earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.60 to $1.70. The pace of vaccinations is accelerating, which will encourage more consumers to eat at restaurants as states relax restrictions. Darden’s same-store sales turned positive in the week ended March 21 as it starts to lap when restaurant lockdowns were first implemented.For fiscal 2022, Darden expects roughly 35 restaurant openings and $350 million to $400 million in capital expenditures. Executives said that it was too early to predict earnings or sales for the next fiscal year.Darden also said it plans to spend about $17 million to give hourly restaurant workers a one-time bonus and to hike wages. Starting Monday, every hourly worker at its restaurants will earn at least $10 an hour, including tip income. In January, hourly wages will go up to $11, and the following January they’ll rise to $12 an hour.The company’s move to raise worker pay follows an early push from President Joe Biden to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, including tipped workers. Democrats dropped the proposal from the Covid relief bill, but they will likely try again while Biden is in office. More