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The FDA determined that a third Pfizer shot can boost protection for children in this age group and the benefits outweigh the risks, said Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the drug regulator’s vaccine division.
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said although Covid tends to be less severe in children, more kids have been getting sick and hospitalized with virus since the omicron variant became dominant.
The FDA did not convene its committee of independent experts before authorizing the booster dose.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized a third shot of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 at least five months after their two-dose primary series.
Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA division responsible for vaccines, said data increasingly shows that the protection provided by two shots wanes over time. The FDA determined that a third shot can help boost protection for children in this age group and the benefits outweigh the risks, Marks said.

The FDA decided to authorize a third shot after analyzing data from an ongoing Pfizer trial, in which a subset of 67 children in this age group had higher antibody levels one month after receiving a booster dose. The drug regulator did not identify any new safety concerns and found the children experienced the same mild side effects that other people do after receiving a booster. Those side effects include injection site swelling, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain, chills and fever.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s committee of independent vaccine experts has a meeting scheduled for Thursday, in which they are expected to issue a recommendation for or against the boosters. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has the final say on whether health-care providers should start administering the shots. Walensky normally backs the committee’s recommendation.
The FDA did not convene its committee to discuss the data before authorizing the booster dose. Some committee members have grown frustrated that the drug regulator has repeatedly moved ahead with decisions on booster doses without holding open public discussions.
Only about 28% of children ages 5 to 11 had received their primary series of two doses as of April, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, in a statement Tuesday, encouraged parents to get their kids vaccinated to protect them against the virus. Califf said although Covid tends to be less severe in children, more kids have been getting sick and hospitalized with the virus since the omicron variant became dominant in the U.S. over the winter
Covid infections are rising again in the U.S. as more transmissible subvariants of omicron spread throughout the nation. The U.S. reported more than 90,000 new infections a day on average as of Sunday, a 30% increase over the week prior, according to CDC data. New hospital admissions of people with Covid have also increased 8% over the past week, according to the CDC.
Almost every age group in the U.S. can now receive at least three vaccine doses with the exception of children under age 5, who aren’t yet eligible for a primary vaccination series. The FDA’s advisory committee is scheduled to meet next month to review Moderna’s and Pfizer’s requests for the drug regulator to authorize their vaccines for kids under age 5.

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The World Health Organization called for an investigation into Russian attacks on health facilities in Ukraine.
The health agency has documented 226 attacks on such facilities since the Russian invasion in late February.
Russia’s assault on Ukraine has led to thousands of civilian deaths and injuries.

CHERNIHIV, UKRAINE – MAY 09: A healthcare professional searches for medicines and medical equipment in a destroyed hospital as Russian attacks continue in Chernihiv, Ukraine on May 09, 2022. Patients are treated in additional buildings as health services are disrupted due to the destroyed hospitals. (Photo by Abdullah Unver/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The World Health Organization on Tuesday called for investigations into Russian attacks on health-care facilities and ambulances in Ukraine.
The global health agency has documented 226 attacks since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, according to Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe. At least 75 people died and 49 were injured in the attacks, he said. 

“These attacks are not justified and they are never OK. And they must be investigated,” Kluge said during a press briefing at the Ukraine Media Center in Kyiv. 
The WHO will contribute to any investigation that takes place in the future, Kluge added.
His remarks come on the 83rd day of Russia’s invasion, which has caused thousands of civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine, including children. Unprovoked attacks on health-care facilities and ambulances have climbed as the war drags on.
The latest figure more than doubles the 100 attacks verified by the WHO over a month ago. 

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WHO representative in Ukraine, Dr. Jarno Habicht, said the health-care facilities and ambulances attacked had served a quarter of a million Ukrainians each month in 2021. 

“So that’s the impact of those attacks. And those attacks are continuing, which is unacceptable. There is no reason for that,” Habicht said.
He added that two-thirds of all attacks on health-care facilities worldwide in 2022 have taken place in Ukraine alone. 
Habicht said the WHO has taken steps to support Ukraine’s health system. He noted that the agency has delivered more than 500 metric tons of medical supplies to the hardest-hit areas of the country since February. 
More than 50% of the supplies, including medicines, ambulances and electric generators, will go toward trauma and injury care. The WHO also provides medical kits to treat those with chronic illnesses, and one kit can provide three months of treatment for thousands of people, according to Habicht. 
He added the WHO is “very glad” that some governments and partners are also delivering medical supplies to Ukraine. 
Kluge called the conditions of the health system in Ukraine both “heartbreaking and inspiring.” He condemned the “devastating” effect the Russian assault has had on people’s lives, but praised the health workers in Ukraine for their commitment to those in need.  
“I’d like to express my immense appreciation and admiration for the health workers of this country who have shown tremendous bravery and dedication since the war began,” Kluge said. “You have done the impossible. You stand firm and save lives.”

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The union that represents flight attendants at Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines on Tuesday backed the carriers’ planned merger.
The announcement clears a labor hurdle among the biggest worker groups at the airlines.

A Frontier Airlines airplane taxis past a Spirit Airlines aircraft at Indianapolis International Airport in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.
Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The union that represents flight attendants at Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines on Tuesday backed the carriers’ planned merger, clearing a labor hurdle among the biggest worker groups at the airlines.
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said it reached a so-called merger transition agreement with Frontier’s parent that prohibits flight attendant furloughs during the merger, in addition to guaranteeing other protections.

“We support the necessary regulatory approvals that will improve competition, increase consumer options and experience, and maintain and grow good union jobs,” Sara Nelson, AFA’s president said in a union announcement.
The agreement comes a day after JetBlue Airways launched a hostile takeover bid for Spirit. The discount airline rejected JetBlue’s $33 per share, all-cash bid earlier this month. JetBlue on Monday made a tender offer of $30 a share and urged Spirit shareholders to vote against the Frontier-Spirit tie-up at a June 10 meeting.
JetBlue’s flight attendants are represented by the Transport Workers Union. Its president, John Samuelsen, told CNBC last month that TWU would seek to represent a combined JetBlue-Spirit flight attendant group if that deal occurred.
Either airline combination would be subject to Justice Department approval.

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Robotaxi start-up Argo AI said Tuesday it has begun operating its autonomous test vehicles without human safety drivers in Miami and Austin, Texas.
For now, the driverless vehicles will shuttle Argo AI employees, not paying passengers.

Argo AI begins driverless operations in Miami and Austin.
Courtesy: Argo AI

Robotaxi start-up Argo AI said Tuesday it has begun operating its autonomous test vehicles without human safety drivers in two U.S. cities — Miami and Austin, Texas — a major milestone for the Ford- and Volkswagen-backed company.
For now, those driverless vehicles won’t be carrying paying customers. But they will be operating in daylight, during business hours, in dense urban neighborhoods, shuttling Argo AI employees who can summon the vehicles via a test app.

CEO Bryan Salesky said that the company has been working to develop self-driving vehicles that can operate safely in cities since its founding in 2016.
“From day one, we set out to tackle the hardest miles to drive — in multiple cities — because that’s where the density of customer demand is, and where our autonomy platform is developing the intelligence required to scale it into a sustainable business,” Salesky said.
Argo has been testing its self-driving technology on streets in eight cities in the U.S. and Europe, using heavily modified Ford and Volkswagen vehicles with, until now, human safety drivers on board.
Most of Argo’s robotaxis still carry only Argo AI employees. But since December, some of the company’s vehicles have been available to passengers in Miami Beach, Florida, via Lyft’s ride-sharing network.
Lyft owns about a 2.5% stake in Argo AI. The vehicles available via Lyft will continue to have human safety drivers for the time being, the company said.

Argo AI is one of several companies working to deploy robotaxis at scale in cities in the U.S. and elsewhere – none have yet reached the point of carrying paying passengers around the clock, in large volume, in busy urban neighborhoods.
General Motors-backed Cruise, a key Argo AI rival, has begun offering driverless taxi services to the public in San Francisco, but the service is currently limited to late-night hours and the company isn’t yet charging for the rides. Waymo, the Alphabet subsidiary that grew out of the pioneering Google Self-Driving Car project, is operating driverless taxis with passengers in and around Phoenix.  

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NHTSA, a federal vehicle safety watchdog, estimates 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year, a 10.5% increase from 2020.
The deaths include pedestrians, cyclists and others who may have died during a crash.

Investigators look over the scene of a crash between an SUV and a semi-truck full of gravel near Holtville, California on March 2, 2021.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

More people died on U.S. roadways last year than any year since 2005, according to new data released Tuesday by federal vehicle safety officials.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation, estimates 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021, a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The deaths include pedestrians, cyclists and others who may have died during a crash.

Fatalities from multivehicle crashes and those on urban roadways both rose 16%, according to the agency, the largest year-over-year increases for incident-specific data. Other notable increases included: fatalities of those 65 years or older, up 14%; pedestrian deaths, up 13%; and fatalities in crashes involving at least one large truck, up 13%.
In a statement Tuesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the situation “a crisis on America’s roadways that we must address together.”
Buttigieg said the Biden administration is taking “critical steps to help reverse this devastating trend,” citing the the agency’s previously announced National Roadway Safety Strategy and Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The NHTSA estimates traffic deaths rose in 2021 in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The higher number of fatalities corresponded with an increase in miles driven on U.S. roadways compared with 2020. Preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration shows that vehicle miles traveled in 2021 increased by about 325 billion miles, or about 11.2%, compared with 2020.
Despite the additional miles traveled, the fatality rate based on miles driven remained about the same from 2020. Estimates put the fatality rate for 2021 at 1.33 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, compared with 1.34 fatalities in 2020.

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Investing Club holding Walmart (WMT) reported terrible fiscal first-quarter 2023 results and disappointing full-year guidance Tuesday before the opening bell. The Dow stock more than 10% after the release Tuesday. Revenue rose 2.4% year over year to $141.6 billion, outpacing the $138.96 billion consensus estimate. But adjusted earnings of $1.30 per share missed the $1.46 per share expected by the Street. Bottom line Despite the strong top-line performance, a number of issues weighed on profitability. The list includes a combination of wage and fuel cost inflation that was compounded by an increase in container and storage costs. Sub-optimal execution on behalf of management was also to blame. They partially attributed the lackluster performance to how fast things moved in the back half of the quarter. You’ll recall that Russia invaded Ukraine a week after the company’s prior earnings release. Jim Cramer on Tuesday said : “The execution here is so poor, it’s embarrassing.” It remains to be seen if management can ultimately bring down some of the costs, pass some others through over time, and ultimately realize longer-term profit growth targets. On the earnings call management said, “We’re committed to our 4% top-line growth and greater than 4% profit growth algorithm. Our strategy and mid- to long-term financial plans support that despite the turbulence we’re managing through today.” That may be the case longer term, and management did take some time to discuss the benefits of their so-called flywheel of “mutually reinforcing businesses.” This quarter makes Walmart a show-me story as management must prove their ability to address input cost inflation and protect profit margins better than they did in the first quarter. However, we aren’t very interested in waiting around for management to show us that they can turn things around. So we’re downgrading the stock a 3 rating. That’s reflective of our desire to sell the position on any rally in shares. We see better opportunities in this beaten down market in companies that actually reported fantastic earnings results. Companywide results In addition to the headline numbers, Walmart reported adjusted operating income on constant currency (CC) basis of $5.3 billion in the quarter, below the $6 billion expected. (Constant currencies help strip out fluctuations in foreign currency to provide a clearer financial picture.) Walmart saw a quarterly operating cash outflow of $3.8 billion, far below estimates for a $10.48 billion inflow, and a free cash outflow of $7.3 billion, which missed the $8.78 billion inflow expected. Capital expenditures of $3.5 billion were a tad below expectations of $3.8 billion. As for shareholder returns, Walmart paid out $1.5 billion in dividends during the quarter and bought back $2.4 billion worth of stock. Guidance While the quarterly earnings miss was disappointing, it was the forward guidance that’s really weighing on shares Tuesday. Management reduced their full-year profit forecast despite increasing sales expectations. Fiscal 2023 sales are now expected to increase about 4% in constant currency, up from the “about 3%” growth guided to last quarter. Comparable sales guidance of slightly above 3.5% excluding fuel for Walmart U.S. also represents an increase from the “slightly above 3.5%” excluding fuel previously forecast. Unfortunately, that’s where the increases ended. Management now expects full-year consolidated operating income to decrease by about 1% CC, down from a 3% increase previously expected. As a result, earnings are now expected to decline by about 1% for the full year, a negative revision versus the previous guide to a mid-single-digit percentage increase. The excepted full-year effective tax was unchanged at 25% to 26% as was capital expenditures guidance for the upper-end of 2.5% to 3% growth. with a focus on supply chain, automation, customer-facing initiatives and technology. As for the second quarter of 2023, management expects sales to increase over 5%, better than expectations for 3.8% year over year advance. Driving the expected improvement, a 4% to 5% comp sales increase excluding fuel at Walmart U.S., better than the 3.6% increase expected by the Street. Unfortunately, as was the case with full-year guidance, second-quarter consolidated operating income and earnings-per-share guidance were both revised lower. Management now expects both to be flat to slightly up, down from the low- to mid single-digit percentage increase previously expected on both line items. Segment results Walmart U.S. revenue rose 4% year over year of $96.9 billion in fiscal first-quarter of 2023, beating expectations of $95.04 billion. As a result of gross margin and expense pressures — despite a slight offset from “solid growth in membership and other income” — operating income fell 18.2% to $4.5 billion, missing expectations of $4.78 billion. Comp sales excluding fuel for the quarter increased 3% year over year, with comp transactions coming in flat year over year, and the comp average ticket growing 3% year over year. Contributing to that comp growth was a low double-digit comp sales increase in grocery and high single-digit increase in health and wellness that was partially offset by a low double-digit decrease in general merchandise. Additionally, while e-commerce sales were up 1% year over year, they were up a solid 38% on a two-year stack basis. Taking a look at profitability dynamics, which is the focus given the bottom line miss, gross margin took a hit of 38 basis points (1 basis point equates to 0.01 percentage points), with three-quarters of of that attributable to “higher-than-expected supply chain costs, including fuel and eCommerce fulfillment,” according to the company. A mix shift toward grocery also weighed on profitability due partly to lapping last year’s stimulus payments, which supported higher-margin general merchandise sales in the year ago period. The operating expense rate was up 95 basis points, primarily as a result of wage inflation as Walmart experienced some overstaffing due to a need to higher additional employees to fill-in for ones out with Covid and then seeing those that were out, return alongside their temporary replacements. That said, on the call, management said, “[The] issue was resolved during the quarter, primarily through attrition.” Walmart International revenue of $23.8 billion for the quarter — down 13% or down 11.6% CC — missed expectations of $25.32 billion. Divestitures in the U.K., Japan and Argentina resulted in a $5 billion annual reduction. Excluding this impact, sales were up 6.3% or 8% CC. Additionally, gross margin and expense pressure compounded the top-line miss, resulting in a 35.3% decline in operating income to $800 million, missing expectations of $950 million. Walmex, which includes results from Mexico and Central America, saw sales for the quarter increase 10.4% year over year while sales in China advanced 7.2% and sales in Canada were up 6.9% versus the year ago period. On the call, management noted that their “biggest international pressure point is related to Covid lockdowns in China, which created operational and financial pressure.” Gross margin contracted 108 basis points with a third of that attributable to the divestitures noted above and the remainder “due to markdowns from slower sales growth, as well as ongoing growth in Sam’s Club and eCommerce sales in China,” the company said. Operating expense rate was up 12 basis points, as a result of the deleveraging. Sam’s Club revenue of $19.6 billion for the quarter beat expectations of $17.73 billion with comp sales increasing 17% year over year. Strength was seen in most categories, led by food and partially offset by weak tobacco sales. E-commerce sales in the quarter were up 22% year over year, driven by both direct-to-home and curbside. Membership income was up 10.5% year over year, with member count reaching a new record and Walmart+ penetration increasing by about 290 basis points to another all-time high. In the membership and other income line item, $1.3 billion beat expectations of $1.22 billion. The company’s global advertising, which is recorded either in net sales or as a reduction to cost of sales, depending on the nature of the advertising arrangement, was called out as being up more than 30%. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long WMT. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Vehicles in a parking lot at a Walmart store in Torrance, California, US, on Sunday, May 15, 2022.
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Jim Cramer ripped into Walmart’ s management Tuesday after the retail behemoth r eported quarterly profits that were worse than expected and reduced its full-year earnings guidance. “This was a terrible quarter,” he said on “Squawk Box.” “Inventories bad. Sales bad. Execution terrible. Really is a suboptimal situation. … The execution here is so poor, it’s embarrassing.” Cramer said while all U.S. retailers are having to navigate inflationary pressures, he believes others such as Club holding Costco were able to perform better than Walmart. “When you see disparities like this, that’s because one company is doing better than the other,” Cramer said, adding later: “This should be a big soul-searching moment for Walmart. They need that.” Shares of Walmart, a Club name, dropped more than 9% Tuesday following the results to trade below $134 apiece. The stock has the third-smallest weighing in Cramer’s Charitable Trust portfolio at 1.26% based on Monday’s closing price. Cramer noted that in March, the Club made several sales of Walmart shares at higher stock prices than Tuesday’s early morning action. The stock was trading just north of $144 per share in each of those March transactions. While the Club only owns 250 shares now, Cramer said that’s not the point. “Doesn’t matter if it was 25 shares. We made a mistake,” he said during Tuesday’s “Morning Meeting,” explaining his primary error was believing that Walmart represented a defensive stock for the current environment. He said part of the reason why Walmart’s stock was sliding so much Tuesday was because only a few months ago, management said it expected a mid single-digit increase in earnings per share this fiscal year. Now, the company projects a 1% decrease. “The sellers are motivated and, frankly, correct,” Cramer said. Read the CNBC Investing Club’s full in-depth analysis on Walmart’s disappointing quarter . (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long WMT and COST. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

A shopper carries a bag outside a Walmart store in San Leandro, California, on Thursday, May 13, 2021.
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When Lucy Yu was 7 years old, she told her mom she wanted to retire and open a bookstore one day. She’d always loved reading and, as the only child raised primarily by her single mother who immigrated from China, turned to books as a source of comfort.
Now, at age 27, Yu is living that retirement dream as her full-time job. In December, she opened Yu and Me Books in Manhattan’s Chinatown, New York City’s first Asian American woman-owned bookstore that centers works from authors of color, immigrants and people from marginalized communities — a place Yu says she’s always wanted to see but never found until she created it herself.

“This was a pipe dream,” Yu tells CNBC Make It. “I didn’t realize the space that I wanted for myself was also wanted by other people. That means so much to me.”

Turning to books through grief and burnout

Yu is a chemical engineer by training and most recently worked as a supply chain manager for a food company. But in January 2021, she hit a wall. She was working 80-hour weeks, dealing with pandemic fatigue and was still grieving the loss of a good friend who died the year prior.
She decided to take three weeks of vacation — her entire PTO allotment for the year — at once.
“As someone who’s struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life, making that decision was very rare for me,” Yu says. “And all I did during that time was read two books a day. I felt like that was all that was giving me the healing and just space that I needed.”
She realized that from the time she was young, “whenever I am in times of intense stress or anxiety, I always turn to books, because they give me such a sense of comfort going into other places and stories outside of mine.”

Yu and Me Books, located in Manhattan’s Chinatown, is New York City’s first AAPI woman-owned bookstore.
Courtesy of subject

One night over wine, she fired up Google and began researching how to open a bookstore and putting ideas into a spreadsheet. “All of a sudden it was 2 a.m. and I had put together this outline” of a business plan, she says. In the following days and weeks, she chipped away at bringing it to life.
By May, she launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding page and raised nearly $16,000. She took those funds, along with her life savings, to rent out a space, cover overhead costs and build an inventory.
She opened Yu and Me Books in December 2021, a tribute to her mother’s initials “YM.”
Yu continued to work her day job until February, when she quit and began running the bookstore full-time. “I just took a shot and hoped it would turn out for the best,” she says, “and I’m really excited that I’m self-employed now. I never thought that would be an option for me.”

Yu and Me Books features stories by AAPI writers, immigrants, authors of color and members of marginalized communities.
Courtesy of subject

Her mother originally questioned why she’d quit her steady 9-to-5 to open a bookstore in the age of Amazon. But after the store officially opened, Yu says, her mother flew from California to New York, “and she stayed with me in the bookstore every day for three weeks, which was so wild, because Asian moms don’t do that,” Yu jokes.
“I think her perception of what the bookstore is and how much people were excited about it changed with her stay here,” Yu adds.

A place for community

Yu jokes that most of what she knows about running a business has come from Google and YouTube. She also learned a lot by calling up other local bookstore owners, including Noelle Santos of The Lit. Bar in the Bronx, and Emma Straub of Brooklyn’s Books are Magic.
Yu has also found a place within Manhattan’s Chinatown, first as a resident and now as a business owner.
“The community in Chinatown is phenomenal,” Yu says. “I think it’s the the most I’ve felt at home in a neighborhood living in the city. And every shop owner shows up for each other,” particularly as the pandemic has strained businesses due to financial hardship and Covid-fueled xenophobia.
Yu understands the importance of running her bookstore in a time of rising anti-Asian violence and discrimination. In addition to carrying around 1,700 handpicked titles that center AAPI and immigrant stories, Yu and Me Books hosts author talks, community readings and other events. The space has a coffee bar and reading nook, and Yu plans to host more book club events and expand the store’s reach beyond New York City. More