Raphael Stevens

Novavax’s updated Covid vaccine is arriving nearly three weeks after new jabs from Pfizer and Moderna reached Americans — but analysts aren’t worried about that delay. 
It still appears well positioned to compete with the other companies in the U.S. Covid vaccine market this fall, particularly after logistical issues hampered the rollout of the other shots.
That’s good news for Novavax, which is working to strengthen its financial position after raising doubts about its ability to stay in business at the beginning of the year.

A health worker prepares a dose of the Novavax vaccine as the Dutch Health Service Organization starts with the Novavax vaccination program on March 21, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands.
Patrick Van Katwijk | Getty Images

Americans can finally get their hands on Novavax’s newest Covid vaccine after U.S. regulators greenlighted the shot this week.
The vaccine’s arrival comes nearly three weeks after new jabs from Pfizer and Moderna reached the public, and after more than 4 million patients rolled up their sleeves to get a shot in September. But Wall Street analysts aren’t worried about that delay.

They said Novavax appears well positioned to catch up and compete this fall with the other companies in the U.S. Covid vaccine market, particularly after logistical issues hampered the rollout of the other shots and a Food and Drug Administration label that allows for wide accessibility to Novavax’s jab, among other factors.
“I’m really not concerned about the timeline or lag relative to the other shots,” B. Riley Securities analyst Mayank Mamtani told CNBC. He added that regulators cleared Novavax’s new shot only slightly later than what the company had estimated, which was late in the third quarter.
That’s good news for Novavax, which is working to strengthen its financial position after raising doubts about its ability to stay in business at the beginning of the year. The biotech company is banking on sales of its updated Covid vaccine — its only commercially available product — and a broad cost-cutting push to help it stay afloat. 
Public health officials see Novavax’s vaccine as a valuable alternative for people who don’t want to take messenger RNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, which teach cells how to make proteins that trigger an immune response against Covid. Novavax’s shot fends off the virus with protein-based technology, a decades-old method used in routine vaccinations against hepatitis B and shingles.
Silvia Taylor, Novavax’s chief corporate affairs and advocacy officer, told CNBC that the company has collected data showing that 25% to 30% of people prefer a protein-based vaccine.

“We look forward to meeting this demand and more in the wake of new variants and rising COVID cases,” Taylor said in a statement.
Shares of Novavax jumped more than 10% on Tuesday after the FDA cleared its new shot. But the company’s stock is still down more than 25% year to date after shedding more than 90% of its value last year.

Novavax’s shot has a broad authorization label

The FDA authorized Novavax’s updated vaccine — which targets the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 — for emergency use in people ages 12 and older. Patients previously vaccinated with an older Covid vaccine are eligible to receive one dose of Novavax’s new jab, while unvaccinated people can receive two doses, according to the authorization.
The FDA similarly approved the new shots from Pfizer and Moderna for people ages 12 and older, but the agency also authorized those vaccines for emergency use in children ages 6 months through 11 years old.
Still, Mamtani said the authorization label for Novavax’s new vaccine is “broad and without any notable restrictions for the first time,” which will likely make the shot as widely accessible to teens and adults as the new mRNA jabs. That puts Novavax on more of a level playing field with Pfizer and Moderna this fall, even as a late entrant to the game.
The label for Novavax’s last Covid booster was far more restrictive. Last year, the FDA authorized it as a first booster dose for people ages 18 and older who couldn’t receive a new mRNA shot for accessibility or clinical reasons. That “basically disqualified a lot of people” from getting it last fall, according to Mamtani. 

A health-care worker administers a dose of the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.
Hannah Beier | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“Finally, after three years, Novavax has a label that puts its vaccine at parity with the mRNA shots,” Mamtani said. “I think the most powerful words on that label was that people can get it regardless of their previous Covid vaccination history.” 

Logistical issues slowed down Pfizer, Moderna

Novavax’s vaccine is entering the market after Pfizer and Moderna had a bumpy start to the rollout of their shots. Insurance and supply-related issues left many Americans unable to find or access the new mRNA vaccines for free, which may give Novavax an opportunity to catch up and get more people to take its shot. 
“We know that a lot of people have tried to get an mRNA vaccine, but they aren’t able to because of logistical challenges of access and distribution,” Jefferies analyst Roger Song told CNBC. “So, that’s one reason why the two or three weeks delay won’t necessarily be a hurdle for Novavax.” 
There’s no way of knowing whether the rollout of Novavax’s new shot will see similar logistical snags or if it will have a smoother launch. The federal government shifted Covid vaccine distribution and coverage to the private market for the first time this fall. That has proved to be a tricky transition for the U.S. health-care system. 

A sign advertises COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine shots at a Walgreens Pharmacy in Somerville, Massachusetts, August 14, 2023.
Brian Snyder | Reuters

However, health-care providers and pharmacies have signaled that they are ironing out logistical issues and will be better equipped to handle them in the future.
Last week, a group of insurers told the Biden administration they were “largely, if not completely,” done with fixing delays in insurance coverage for the new Covid shots. Those delays had resulted in some patients getting charged up to $190 for a shot at pharmacies.
“Should further issues arise, we stand ready to swiftly implement system improvements,” the insurers said in a letter. 
Some pharmacies, like Walgreens, also appear to be resolving supply disruptions, which left many stores without any new Covid shots for patients to receive.

Covid vaccinations could peak later this fall

What’s more, Novavax’s new shot might actually be arriving at just the right time: a month before Covid vaccine demand is expected to peak in the U.S. this fall and winter. 
Jefferies’ Song said the peak could follow a similar pattern as last season when most Covid boosters were administered in November. That’s partly because there is “less urgency” among Americans when it comes to Covid shots compared to early on in the pandemic, which could cause them to get vaccinated later rather than earlier.
“During the first season of Covid, everyone rushed to get vaccinations because it was really an emergency state. But now people have a mindset where they’re saying, ‘OK, I will wait and see how bad Covid really gets,'” Song said.
By November, Novavax’s new shot will likely be as widely available as shots from Pfizer and Moderna at pharmacies, doctor’s offices and other vaccine distribution sites. 
But the biggest uncertainty this fall for all three companies is how many Americans will decide to get another Covid vaccine, Song said.
Last year’s uptake was already feeble: Only about 17% of the U.S. population — around 56 million people — received last year’s boosters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We don’t know how big the overall pie will be because we’ve never been in a commercial market for Covid vaccines,” he told CNBC. “This fall will set a new benchmark for the entire Covid vaccine space.” More

UAW members are getting ready to vote on a labor agreement with Volvo Group-owned Mack Trucks.
Those workers are hoping they can get similar benefits to what their brethren are seeking from the Detroit automakers.
But Mack Trucks — which is offering 19% wage increases, ratification bonuses, increased 401(k) company payments and other benefits — is not in the same position as the Big Three automakers.

Striking United Auto Workers members from the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant picket in Delta Township, Michigan, on Sept. 29, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

DETROIT — United Auto Workers members with Volvo Group-owned Mack Trucks will vote this weekend on a tentative agreement that falls significantly short of what the union is demanding in negotiations currently being held with Detroit automakers.
The Sunday vote by roughly 3,900 union members could test the willingness of workers to ratify a lesser deal compared to raised expectations set by UAW President Shawn Fain for hourly pay increases, equal pay for equal work, inflation protection and, potentially, shorter work weeks.

While Mack Trucks is a separate company and a different part of the union than the section that covers members with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, some workers were expecting that they would receive similar increases and benefits as their union brethren at the Detroit automakers.
“In my opinion, the master contract is not horrid. It’s not a bad contract, but it’s nowhere near what we were expecting,” a 12-year Mack Truck worker at the company’s Lehigh Valley Operations in Pennsylvania told CNBC.
The worker and several other UAW members with Mack Trucks who asked not to be identified due to fear of retribution from the union or company said they plan to vote against the deal. Their reasons included the tentative agreement not meeting expectations, the length of the deal being a year longer than before and the pay increases and bonuses not being enough to offset inflation or reward them for working through the Covid-19 pandemic.

“When we were going in, we were following basically like the automakers,” the worker said. “They’ve changed some things for the better but, in my opinion, not enough.”
The Mack Trucks tentative agreement varies by location and job but for many workers, it includes a roughly 19% wage increase over the five-year deal, including 10% upon ratification; $3,500 ratification bonuses; increased 401(k) company payments; and other benefits. It does not include the elimination of wage tiers (it only has a one-year reduction that would bring the steps to five years); re-instatement of traditional pensions; cost-of-living adjustments to battle inflation; or shorter work weeks.

The Mack Trucks tentative agreement isn’t a bad deal, but it’s not close to the 40% pay increase, inflation protection, work/life balance and other bonuses and benefits Fain has set as the standard for negotiations with the Detroit automakers. For the Detroit automakers, pay tiers also have been at least cut in half from eight years — a time frame Fain, a former auto worker, said Friday was “not acceptable.”
Mack Trucks and UAW announced the tentative agreement early Monday, followed by releasing “highlights” of the deal later in the week to members. Neither UAW nor Mack Trucks have publicly released the tentative contract ahead of employee meetings to detail the agreement and voting this weekend. 
Another Mack Trucks worker descried the deal as “disgraceful” and an “insult” compared to their expectations and what’s currently being negotiated by UAW international leaders with the Detroit automakers, also known as the Big Three.
“We are low man on totem pole, and we are getting no backing from international,” said a more than 10-year material technician. “They are just pushing this [tentative agreement] through so they don’t have to deal with us while the Big Three are negotiating.”

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain during an online broadcast updating union members on negotiations with the Detroit automakers on Oct. 6, 2023.
Screenshot

UAW declined to comment on the comparison in contracts between Mack Trucks and the Detroit automakers. Mack Trucks President Stephen Roy, in a Monday statement, said the tentative agreement “would deliver significantly increased wages and continue first-class benefits for Mack employees and their families,” while keeping the company competitive.
Another veteran worker at Mack Truck’s Lehigh Valley Operations in Pennsylvania said they were not expecting the same raises and benefits as what’s being negotiated with the Detroit automakers, but they were looking for more than what’s in the current tentative agreement.
“We pay dues just like the Big Three,” said the roughly 20-year Mack Trucks employee who has worked several positions with the company. “We should get at least the same type of negotiation options.”
One of the “options” mentioned by Mack Truck workers was conducting target strikes like what’s happening at the Detroit automakers to fight for additional wages and benefits, specifically, the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments to combat inflation.
“My honest opinion, I thought we were going out on strike because there’s no COLA in it,” the worker said. So, in five years, we’re going to be right back in the same hole.”
Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit who specializes in labor issues, said it’s important to note that Mack Trucks is not in the same position as the Detroit automakers. However, inflated expectations from union members can be a problem.
“The UAW can be a victim of its own success,” he said. “They get a good deal here and everybody’s going to say we want the same thing … but they operate in different industries or different segments of the larger industry that have different financial considerations, and I think that’s just what you’re seeing here.” More

Amazon’s first pair of prototypes for its Project Kuiper satellite internet system launched on Friday.
“We’ve done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there’s no substitute for on-orbit testing,” a Project Kuiper executive said.
Project Kuiper is Amazon’s plan to build a network of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit, to provide high-speed internet access anywhere in the world.

Your Amazon order of internet satellite prototypes have shipped.
More than four years since the tech giant announced its ambitious plan to invest heavily in building a global satellite internet network, Amazon on Friday saw the first pair of satellites for its Project Kuiper system launch into space.

“We’ve done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there’s no substitute for on-orbit testing,” Project Kuiper vice president of technology Rajeev Badyal said in a statement before the launch.

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the first two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation stands ready for launch on pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on October 5, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States. 
Paul Hennessey | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the first two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation stands ready for launch on pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on October 5, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States. 
Paul Hennessey | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Amazon twice switched rides for the pair of satellites before finally deciding to go with the immediately available, albeit far overpowered, Atlas V rocket for the Protoflight mission. Amazon originally planned to launch on ABL Space’s RS1 rocket, before delays in RS1’s development moved the satellites to United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, but delays to Vulcan’s debut moved the satellites to Atlas V.
Information about the size and design of the pair of Amazon’s satellites has been scarce – with the company only sharing photos of the shipping containers that delivered the spacecraft to Florida. Even ULA’s details about the launch are limited, with the info provided comparable to when the rocket company flies classified spy satellites for the U.S. government.

Last year, Amazon announced the biggest corporate rocket deal in the industry’s history to launch Kuiper satellites, signing launch contracts with ULA, Arianespace, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. As part of that deal, Amazon expects to pay about $7.4 billion for Kuiper launches over the next five years. 
It has booked 77 launches – deals that include options for more launches when needed – from that trio of companies to deploy the satellites fast enough to meet regulatory requirements. That massive purchase has come under scrutiny from an Amazon shareholder lawsuit, which alleges the company snubbed SpaceX for valuable satellite launch contracts because of Jeff Bezos’ personal rivalry with Elon Musk.
Amazon is playing catch up to SpaceX, which has grown its Starlink satellite internet service to more than 2 million customers. Crucially, SpaceX says it is no longer absorbing the cost of the Starlink antennas it sells with the service, and the more than 5,000 satellites its launched so far now serve consumer, enterprise, and government customers.
Earlier this week, Amazon reiterated that its first production Kuiper satellites are on track to launch in the first half of next year – with plans to begin beta testing the network with customers by the end of 2024.

The “ultra-compact” version of the Project Kuiper

Protoflight represents an “end-to-end” test of Kuiper. Amazon will look to verify the prototype satellites can connect to ground antennas and relay that connectivity on to its small customer terminals.
This year Amazon revealed a trio of satellite antennas that it plans to sell to Kuiper customers. The company has yet to say what it expects to charge customers for the hardware or service. Earlier field testing of Amazon’s Kuiper antennas saw download speeds of up to 400 Mbps.
The company’s main Kuiper facilities are near Seattle – in the Washington cities of Redmond and Kirkland. Amazon has other locations in San Diego, Austin, Texas, New York City and Washington, D.C. More

The UAW will not expand its strikes for the first week since work stoppages began, after the sides failed to reach tentative agreements by Sept 14.
The union had been gradually increasing its strikes against the Detroit automakers but said it’s making progress in negotiations.
Only 25,200 workers, or roughly 17% of UAW members covered by the expired contracts with the Detroit automakers, are currently on strike.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain during an online broadcast updating union members on negotiations with the Detroit automakers on Oct. 6, 2023.
Screenshot

DETROIT – The United Auto Workers will not expand strikes against the Detroit automakers this week amid progress in the talks, including General Motors agreeing to include battery cell workers under the company’s national agreement.
This is the first week since targeted strikes by the UAW started on Sept. 15 that the union will not expand the work stoppages at GM, Ford Motor or Chrysler-parent Stellantis.

Fain said the union was planning to shut down GM’s Arlington Assembly plant that produces highly profitable full-size SUVs until a last-minute proposal by the company to place the automaker’s battery cell workers under its national agreement.
“Just that threat has provided a transformative win,” Fain, wearing an “EAT THE RICH” T-shirt, said during an online broadcast Friday. “We’ve been told for months that this is impossible … and now we’ve called their bluff. What this will mean for our membership cannot be understated.”
GM declined to immediately comment on the battery cell workers, citing the ongoing negotiations: “Our goal remains to reach an agreement that rewards our employees and allows GM to be successful into the future.”
GM, with its battery plant in Ohio, is the only Detroit automaker with a joint venture battery plant in operation and unionized in the U.S. The automaker has announced plans for two other U.S. battery cell plants with LG Energy Solution as well as one with Samsung SDI.

Battery plants

GM’s agreement will put pressure on crosstown rivals Ford and Stellantis to do the same, as the UAW tends to pattern agreements off one another for members to receive “equal pay for equal work,” a longstanding motto of the union.

“The plan was to draw down engine and transmission plants and permanently replace them with low-wage battery jobs,” Fain said. “We had a different plan, and our plan is winning at GM. And we expect it to win at Ford and Stellantis as well.”

Electric vehicle battery plants have been a major point of contention in this year’s talks between the union and the three Detroit automakers. Each automaker has formed joint ventures with battery makers to manufacture EV batteries in the United States — a move the union has characterized as a plan to shut it out of the new factories, many of which are under construction now.
Officially, because they’re owned by joint ventures, the battery plants aren’t covered by the automakers’ agreements with the union. The automakers have said that because of that status, the plants shouldn’t be a factor in contract negotiations with the union.
But the UAW has made a “just transition” — meaning, a plan to protect their members as the industry shifts to electric vehicles — a centerpiece of this year’s negotiations, something that has frustrated the automakers. Ford CEO Jim Farley said last week that the UAW is “holding the deal hostage over battery plants.”
Ford declined to comment following Fain’s comments Friday, referring to a statement issued earlier in the week that the company remains “open to the possibility of working with the UAW on future battery plants in the U.S., reminding that these are multibillion-dollar investments and have to operate at sustainably competitive levels.”
Fain said in his Friday presentation that the union had expected to announce an expansion of the strike against GM. “But today, because of our power, GM has agreed to lay the foundation for a just transition,” he said.

‘Significant progress’

UAW has been gradually increasing the strikes since the work stoppages began, after the sides failed to reach tentative agreements by Sept 14. The targeted, or “stand up,” strikes are taking place instead of national walkouts in which all plants simultaneously strike.
“I wish I were here to announce a tentative agreement at one or more of these companies, but I do want to be really clear: We are making significant progress,” Fain said. “In just three weeks, we have moved these companies further than anyone thought was possible.”
Fain said Ford has offered a 23% raise over the life of the expected four and a half year contract, while GM and Stellantis are at around 20%. Stellantis and Ford also have agreed to reinstate a cost-of-living adjustment that the union lost more than a decade ago, among other enhanced proposals by each of the companies.
Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart, who’s overseeing the negotiations, said the sides “are making progress, but there are gaps that still need to be closed.”
“While we still have some work to do, I remain optimistic that our discussions are providing a pathway to a tentative agreement,” Stewart said.

Striking United Auto Workers (UAW) members from the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant picket in Delta Township, Michigan September 29, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

Only 25,200 workers, or roughly 17% of UAW members covered by the expired contracts with the Detroit automakers, are currently on strike. Fain previously said the union would increase the work stoppages, based on progress in the contract negotiations.
The strikes began at an assembly plant for each of the Detroit automakers, followed by 38 parts and distribution centers for GM and Stellantis. A week ago, the union expanded strikes to assembly plants for GM in mid-Michigan and Ford in Illinois.
“We’ve been very careful about how we escalate this strategy,” Fain said.
Vehicle production impacted by the strikes include Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco, Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs; Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler SUV and Gladiator small pickup; and GM’s Chevrolet and GMC midsize pickups, Chevrolet Traverse, Cadillac XT4 and Buick Enclave SUVs and Chevrolet Malibu sedan. The Malibu and XT4 production were idled due to parts shortages caused by the strike.
GM this week said the UAW’s strike cost it $200 million in lost production during the third quarter.
UAW negotiators have received counter proposals from each of the Detroit automakers during the past week, starting with Stellantis a week ago before Fain’s Friday strike announcement. Ford followed early in the week with a proposal and then GM submitted a counteroffer Wednesday night. More