Tag: Covid

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Can the Covid Vaccine Shield Me Towards Virus Variants?

Can the Covid Vaccine Protect Me Against Virus Variants?

The main concern of B.1.1.7 is that it is highly contagious and that it is spreading rapidly among the unvaccinated, potentially overwhelming hospitals in areas where cases are soaring.

All of the main vaccines used – Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sputnik, and Novavax – have been shown to be effective against B.1.1.7. We know this from a large number of studies and indicators. First, scientists used the blood of vaccinated patients to study how well vaccine antibodies bind to a variant in a test tube. The vaccines have all proven themselves relatively well against B.1.1.7. There is also data from clinical trials, notably from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca (the most widely used vaccine in the world), showing that it is effective against both infections and severe ones in areas where B.1.1.7 is circulating Diseases are highly effective. And in Israel, for example, where 80 percent of the eligible population are vaccinated (all with the Pfizer shot), even as schools, restaurants, and workplaces open, case numbers drop, suggesting vaccines may introduce new infections, including those , curb caused by variants.

No vaccine is child’s play, and although the Covid vaccines offer a high level of protection, people who have been vaccinated sometimes still get infected. But breakthrough cases from vaccinated people are very rare, even when variants trigger an increase in the number of cases. And the vaccines clearly prevent serious illness and hospitalization in the few vaccinated patients who become infected.

What is the risk of infection after vaccination? Nobody really knows, but we have some pointers. For example, during the Moderna study, only 11 out of 15,210 vaccinated patients were infected. Both Pfizer and Moderna are currently conducting more detailed studies of breakthrough cases in vaccinated subjects and should publish these data soon.

Updated

April 15, 2021, 9:08 p.m. ET

Two real-world studies of vaccinated health care workers at much higher risk of virus exposure than the rest of us offer hopeful signs. One study found that only four out of 8,121 fully vaccinated employees at the University of Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas were infected. The other found that only seven of 14,990 employees at UC San Diego Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles tested positive two or more weeks after receiving a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccinations . Both reports were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and are a sign that breakthrough cases were uncommon even in those who were frequently exposed to sick patients, although cases in the United States rose sharply. Most importantly, patients infected after vaccination had mild symptoms. Some people had no symptoms at all and were only discovered through tests in studies or as part of their independent medical care.

Researchers are still investigating whether the variants may increase the number of breakthrough cases or whether vaccine antibodies decline over time. So far, data from Moderna shows that the vaccine is still 90 percent effective after at least six months. Pfizer has reported similar results.

A recent study of 149 people in Israel who became infected with the Pfizer vaccine after vaccination found that a variant first identified in South Africa was more likely to cause breakthrough infections. However, these eight infections occurred between the seventh and the 13th day after the second dose. “We didn’t see a South African variant 14 days after the second dose,” said Adi Stern, the study’s lead author, professor at the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at Tel Aviv University. “It was a small sample size, but it is very likely that two weeks after the second dose the level of protection may increase and the South African variant will be blocked completely. That gives us more room for optimism. “

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Cruise line CEOs press White Home Covid staff on U.S. sailings: Sources

How Covid safe bubble can be created on cruises

Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Sea cruise ship berths in Port Miami on March 2, 2021 in Miami, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

In a meeting with the White House’s Covid Response Team and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CEOs of Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean spoke out in favor of replacing the government’s gradual approach to US ports and create a clear roadmap that will allow crossings to resume this summer, sources in the CNBC area told.

Earlier this month, the CDC updated their conditional sail order framework. However, the agency has not yet set a date on which operators can resume voyages from American ports.

The CEOs of the virtual meeting on Monday made it clear to U.S. health officials that by requiring vaccinations and negative Covid tests for everyone on board, passengers could sail safely, the sources said. One participant who did not wish to be identified described the meeting as “encouraging”.

A spokesman for the Cruise Lines International Association trade group told CNBC, “For the first time, industry leaders have been able to highlight the cruise community’s unique ability to implement and accurately manage health protocols that incorporate rigorous reviews, tests, prevention, detection, and monitoring and response procedures all in one controlled environment throughout the cruise experience. ”

The time for the meeting this week has come as communication between the cruise lines and the U.S. health authorities has been tense and politicians on both sides have also exerted pressure.

On Thursday afternoon, Norwegian Cruise Line reiterated its request to the CDC to allow the company to resume cruising from US ports on July 4th. “I continue to await further discussions with the CDC and respectfully request an immediate response to my written proposal to resume cruising in July so we can join America’s national reopening,” CEO Frank Del Rio said in the statement .

Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., And Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., Said in a statement Thursday that they wrote a letter to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky sent and asked her to keep the sailing order.

On Tuesday, Florida GOP Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska announced a bill aimed at overriding the CDC’s current framework for cruise ship return to sea. The economies in Florida and Alaska are feeling the effects after more than a year without cruising. The cruise was discussed later on Tuesday at the first hearing of a new Senate Travel and Tourism subcommittee.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced last week that the state would file a lawsuit against the CDC. He demanded that cruise ships be allowed to sail again immediately.

A former tour operator told CNBC that the cruise lines are not a priority after the March 2020 event, when several cruise lines were stranded at sea and the ports did not let them in.

CNBC has approached the CDC and the White House for comment and received no response.

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Consultants talk about if it is attainable to succeed in Covid immunity

Experts discuss if it's possible to reach Covid immunity

People hold hands on Fifth Avenue amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 10, 2021 in New York City.

Noam Galai | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

As Covid vaccines roll out around the world, many look forward to “herd immunity” – when the disease stops spreading quickly because the majority of the population is immune from vaccination or infection.

It is seen as a path to normalcy and something doctors and political leaders often discuss when talking about defeating Covid-19.

While there have been doubts as to whether herd immunity is possible, medical experts who have spoken to CNBC say it can be achieved. However, they point to a difficult path, as maintaining high levels of immunity will be a challenge.

“I think every part of the world will sooner or later reach herd immunity,” said Benjamin Cowling, director of the epidemiology and biostatistics department at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health. Different communities could get there through vaccinations, infection, or a combination of both, he added.

Not everyone agrees.

An article last month in Nature identified five reasons herd immunity might not be possible. According to the report, the barriers to herd immunity include: new varieties, dwindling immunity, and questions about whether vaccines actually prevent transmission.

Shweta Bansal, a math biologist, told the publication, “Herd immunity is only relevant if we have a vaccine that blocks transmission. If we don’t, the only way to get herd immunity in the population is by to give everyone the vaccine. “”

Herd immunity: “Complicated” but possible

Health experts who spoke to CNBC have recognized that the factors raised in the article on nature could hinder progress toward herd immunity – but they believe that is still within reach.

“We’re not trying to eradicate it, we’re trying to stop the runaway community transmission. In that sense, we can achieve (herd immunity),” said Dale Fisher, professor of infectious diseases at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical officer to President Joe Biden, said 75% to 85% of people need to be vaccinated to create an “umbrella” of immunity that will prevent the virus from spreading. Fisher estimates the number is around 70%.

“Reaching 70% is possible, but there are many threats,” he said, explaining that the percentage of a population immune to Covid-19 would decrease as immunity wears off. make the vaccines less effective.

“Herd immunity is something very nice and conceptual, but it’s more complicated,” he said during a call. “If you want to call a magic number around 70% then all I am saying is very hard to come by and maintain.”

Herd immunity may not be permanent, but rather short-term.

Benjamin Cowling

School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong

Cowling agreed that there is “no guarantee” that immunity levels would remain high over the long term. “Herd immunity may not be permanent, but rather short-term,” he said.

Still, it’s something the world can work towards, he added, emphasizing that refresher shots can help when protection is lost.

Back to the “normal”

It could take three to five years for the world to return to “completely normal,” said Carlos del Rio, a professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.

“There are still a lot of broadcasts around the world and I think it will be some time before that changes,” he told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Monday.

The World Health Organization warned this week that the pandemic is “growing exponentially” and more than 4.4 million new Covid-19 cases have been reported in the past week.

The agency’s technical director for Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said the world has reached “a critical point in the pandemic”.

“Vaccines and vaccinations are going online, but they are not yet available in all parts of the world,” she added.

Fisher said the world is still “very susceptible to large outbreaks” – but cases could sporadic in five or ten years. In the meantime there will be a transition period.

“Herd immunity is not a binary phenomenon,” he said. “Most people think you either have it or you don’t – but it’s obviously gray in between.”

Cowling said he thinks the greatest risk for Covid will be in the next 12 months, but the threat will decrease afterwards as vaccines are introduced.

“What I would expect in the years to come is that the virus will still circulate, it will be endemic, but it will no longer be a major threat to public health,” he said.

– CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace contributed to this report.

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Open center seats might cut back Covid publicity of maskless passengers

Open middle seats could reduce Covid exposure of maskless passengers

View of the cabin of a Delta flight between Minneapolis and Baltimore on April 25, 2020.

Sebastien Duval | AFP | Getty Images

Passenger exposure to the virus that causes Covid-19 could be reduced by more than half if the center seats on airplanes were left open, according to a new study published Wednesday.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kansas State University used laboratory models to find that passenger exposure to SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, could be reduced by between 23% in large and narrow-body aircraft and 57% when airlines leave middle seats open – Even if they don’t wear masks.

The study comes after airlines have spent much of the last year promoting increased on-board cleaning procedures and filtration to reassure travelers worried about flying during the pandemic. The demand for travel has recovered somewhat since then, as more people are vaccinated against Covid-19.

U.S. airlines, including JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines, limited the capacity on board their aircraft at the start of the pandemic, but have since abolished the policy, citing hospital-grade filtration and other safety measures to limit the risk of exposure on board. Delta Air Lines plans to end the lockdown of the center seats next month, the last U.S. carrier to make the change. However, capacity caps were halted over the Easter weekend as staff shortages resulted in dozens of flight cancellations.

The researchers’ study did not look at wearing masks on flights, which became an airline and federal government policy during the pandemic.

However, they cited a New Zealand case study which stated that “some of the virus aerosol is given off by an infectious masked passenger, so distancing might still be useful.”

They used a surrogate virus to stand up for SARS-CoV-2 in the air.

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EMA says advantages of J&J Covid vaccine outweigh dangers

EMA says benefits of J&J Covid vaccine outweigh risks

Crystal Jones, 52, head of the Athens City Department of Health, loads syringes of the vaccine on the first day of Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine.

SOPA pictures | LightRocket | Getty Images

LONDON – The European Medicines Agency said Wednesday that the benefits of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risk of side effects following reports of extremely rare blood clotting.

It comes shortly after the US Food and Drug Administration asked states to temporarily suspend J & J’s use of the vaccine “out of caution” after six cases of bleeding disorder were detected with more than 6.8 million doses of the shot were.

All six cases in the United States occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 48, with symptoms developing six to 13 days after receiving the shot. The FDA said one woman died from complications from blood clotting and another was in critical condition.

The European Medicines Agency has currently investigated all reported cases and will decide whether regulatory action is required.

“The EMA is currently accelerating this assessment and is currently expecting to issue a recommendation next week,” the European Medicines Agency said in a statement.

“During the ongoing review, the EMA continues to believe that the vaccine’s benefits in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects.”

South Africa has stopped the launch of the shot while J&J has announced it is “proactively delaying” delivery of its vaccine to Europe, which began last week.

The vaccine was approved in the EU on March 11, but widespread use of the shot has not yet started.

“Right now, these adverse events seem extremely rare,” the FDA said on Tuesday in a joint statement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The safety of COVID-19 vaccines is a top priority for the federal government and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously.”

Last week, the European Medicines Agency said it had identified a possible link between the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and rare blood clotting problems. AstraZeneca has not received approval for use in the United States

Oxford-AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines work in a similar way, and both use an adenovirus, a common type of virus that typically causes mild cold symptoms.

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A Key Software in Covid Monitoring: The Freedom of Info Act

A Key Tool in Covid Tracking: The Freedom of Information Act

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and provides a behind-the-scenes look at how our journalism comes together.

In the first few months of the pandemic, blocks of data in some U.S. communities suggested that the coronavirus infected and killed blacks and Latinos at much higher rates than whites. A team of New York Times reporters who followed outbreaks across the country believed that the collection of detailed national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could confirm this trend. There was only one problem: the federal government failed to honor reporters’ email request for the data.

To overcome this hurdle, the Times journalists relied on a decade-old law known as the Freedom of Information Act, which gives the public access to records from almost every federal agency, as well as state open record laws. After reporters received the data, their July article provided a detailed picture of 640,000 infections discovered in nearly 1,000 US states. This was the most comprehensive look at coronavirus cases across the country to date. The report also confirmed that blacks and Latinos actually had the worst pandemic.

Over the past year, dozens of Times journalists denied case-related data have filed more than 400 FOIA or other open records requests with government agencies. Many of these inquiries have enabled reporters to track cases, deaths and uncover locations of Covid-19 outbreaks.

“Having good information, solid data, and a respectful view of the agencies to make sure they are transparent leads to better accountability and, hopefully, better policies,” said Mitch Smith, a correspondent for the National Desk covering the Midwest and one of them was the journalists covering the history of racial inequality.

For the most part, submitting a FOIA request is as easy as writing an email. A reporter can submit a form on the federal or equivalent state FOIA website listing the information they are looking for. FOIA officials will then approve or deny the application despite sometimes not making a decision for an extended period of time – weeks, months, sometimes years.

Updated

April 14, 2021, 5:50 a.m. ET

Journalists can appeal after a rejection or after a deadline for deciding or responding to a request. However, if the appeal fails or an agency fails to respond, journalists can get the information, as the Times did to get the CDC data on which its report on racial inequality is based. Sometimes governments try to put up roadblocks in the form of exorbitant fees for conducting a file search, or requiring a reporter to be in the state where the application is being made, or simply requiring a form to be hand-made is delivered to a post office. Again, in some of these cases, the courts may have recourse.

Danielle Ivory, an investigative reporter for The Times, started filing FOIA and Open Records inquiries shortly after joining the Covid tracking team a year ago. Early on, she and her colleagues filed in almost every state for lists of nursing homes with coronavirus cases and deaths. Ms. Ivory estimated that later, when they reported on coronavirus clusters in universities, they sent over 200 requests to at least 150 colleges for case data alone, which helped them track more than 400,000 Covid cases back to universities by 2020.

“A lot of these places didn’t want to divulge the information,” Ms. Ivory said. “Some places told us they thought it was private. We asked for aggregated information so we disagreed with that assessment and in many cases we were right because some of them ultimately gave it to us. “

When prisons and jails started reporting spikes in coronavirus outbreaks last year, open file requests proved helpful in tracking the spread of cases. Danya Issawi, a member of the team that worked on this project, said filing FOIAs in the sheriff’s offices and local health departments has become almost a daily routine, not just about the number of infections and deaths in these Establish facilities, but also for the population of prisons and information for testing.

“All of this data represents real human life and real human consequences in places where numbers are not easily shared,” said Ms. Issawi. “Every time we file a FOIA and get information back, it seems like you’re filling a small gap with someone who might have a loved one or friend.”

As vaccination efforts continue, FOIA inquiries and other open records requests can continue to play an important role in ensuring that governments are transparent. This year alone, journalists have submitted dozens of FOIA inquiries to The Times looking for distribution patterns or problem areas.

However, Ms. Ivory is always optimistic that it will become easier and easier to discover the value of this data as more and more people realize the value of this data. “To be honest, I’m really hopeful,” she said.

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Pausing use of J&J Covid vaccine is not going to have an effect on timeline of getting U.S. vaccinated, says physician

Pausing use of J&J Covid vaccine will not affect timeline of getting U.S. vaccinated, says doctor

America’s temporary hiatus from using Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine Covid-19 will not affect President Joe Biden’s goal of bringing the nation to a semblance of normalcy by Independence Day, said the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health on Tuesday.

“I think this is going to be a blip on the calendar when it comes to getting Americans vaccinated,” said Dr. Ashish Jha. “I don’t think it will affect the timeline at all.”

Federal health officials advised on Tuesday that the US should temporarily stop using J & J’s single-dose vaccine after six of the roughly 6.9 million people who received the shot reported severe blood clots. The blood clots occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 48 years. One woman died and another is in critical condition. They all developed symptoms 6 to 13 days after the shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.

Jha told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the precautionary measures are evidence that “the system is working” and that the government’s swift action could counter the hesitation of the vaccine.

“I hope that it actually builds trust in people, that we don’t take adverse events lightly and investigate them, and that we really make sure that these vaccines are very, very safe.”

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, reiterated that the break is “out of caution” and will give health officials time to investigate.

“You want to make sure that security is the important issue here,” Fauci said during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday. “We are fully aware that this is a very rare occurrence. We want this to work as soon as possible.”

Jha told host Shepard Smith that he “expects the break to be days, not much longer,” reiterating Fauci’s claim about the rarity of blood clots.

“The key point here is that this is an incredibly rare, adverse event,” said Jha. “It won’t affect very many people and I think, out of caution, we’ll just pause to see what else we can find out about it.”

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Panicked sufferers name medical doctors as Covid vaccine hesitancy rises with J&J blood clot challenge

Panicked patients call doctors as Covid vaccine hesitancy rises with J&J blood clot issue

More Americans are likely to refuse to receive the Covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson after U.S. health officials said six women developed a rare bleeding disorder with one dead and another in critical condition, experts said for public health and vaccines using CNBC on Tuesday.

The Food and Drug Administration asked states early Tuesday to temporarily stop using J & J’s single-shot vaccine “out of caution” after six women aged 18 to 48 out of the roughly 6.9 million people who received the shot developed blood. A coagulation disorder known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST.

All women developed the condition that occurs when a blood clot forms in the venous sinuses of the brain that prevents blood from flowing back to the heart within about two weeks of receiving the shot from the brain, health officials told reporters on a phone call .

“People who have recently received the vaccine in the past few weeks should be aware if they are looking for symptoms,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the deputy chief director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a press conference on Tuesday. “If you have received the vaccine and have severe headache, stomach pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath, you should contact your doctor and see a doctor.”

Shortly after the FDA issued the warning, more than a dozen states, as well as some pharmacies, took steps to stop vaccination with J & J’s vaccine. Some replaced scheduled appointments with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Some doctors say they are already taking calls from worried patients.

People were already skeptical of vaccines before the coronavirus emerged as a new pathogen in China in December 2019, infecting more than 31.2 million Americans and killing at least 562,718 people in just over a year. Warning from U.S. health officials to states is likely to be even more reluctant to take J & J’s shot and the other vaccines, and threatens to hold back the nation’s recovery from the pandemic, health experts told CNBC.

“Unfortunately, this is likely to exacerbate those who are a little hesitant about getting a vaccine,” said Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist who served on several drug data and safety oversight panels. “Senior public health officials need to continue to be open, honest, transparent, and most importantly, contextualize that this is a low risk.”

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical officer, the goal is to vaccinate between 70% and 85% of the US population – or about 232 to 281 million people – to achieve herd immunity and suppress the pandemic.

To date, more than 120 million Americans, or 36% of the total US population, have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the CDC. Around 74 million Americans, or 22% of the total US population, are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Children under the age of 16 are not yet eligible to shoot in the United States, and some adults are likely to refuse to get a vaccine.

“This puts a wrench in the plans. It will slow down the rollout,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. “People will say, ‘I don’t want this, I want one of the others who don’t have this problem,’ even if it’s an extremely rare occurrence.”

Some Americans, especially in black, Hispanic, and rural communities, have already been reluctant to get the J&J vaccine, especially because they found it to be worse than Pfizer and Moderna’s. The highly effective J&J shot, especially against serious illnesses, showed 72% effectiveness in protecting against Covid in the US about a month after inoculation. This is comparable to the effectiveness of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines with two doses of around 95%.

Single-dose vaccines like J & Js were critical to “getting into communities where a two-dose regimen was impractical or even possible,” Kahn said. US health officials used J & J’s vaccine primarily to reach poorer urban and rural areas where residents could not easily get to a vaccination clinic or did not have reliable internet access.

“These communities are also the hardest hit by Covid,” said Kahn. “Interrupting Use of J & J. [is] one stroke to do that effectively and quickly. “

Dr. Stephen Schrantz, who was part of the team leading a J&J vaccine study at the University of Chicago Medicine, said he already had patients who didn’t want the J&J vaccine and said the news would give them more evidence give to say, “See, I told you.”

“I suspect that vaccine adoption and uptake will slow down, there will be a move away from the J&J vaccine even if the CDC and FDA conclude that there is no causal link,” he said. “And as the wearing of masks wears off, there may be more cases like we have in Michigan.”

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who sits on Pfizer’s board of directors, predicted the move will fuel “the reluctance” of some people to get a Covid vaccine.

“Even if there is no causal link, even if it is extremely rare, we will see that the whole conversation is now ignited on social media,” he told CNBC in an interview.

Dr. Purvi Parikh, an infectious disease allergy and immunology specialist at NYU Langone Health, described the FDA warning Tuesday as a “double-edged sword” and said it would likely raise concerns for already reluctant Americans. She also said she had already received “panic calls” from her own patients about the J&J vaccine.

“But if anything, I would like to repeat again: This only gives me more confidence in our system because these security checks work. Hopefully it will give some people peace of mind,” she added on “Squawk on the Street”. “” “Again, to look at the bigger picture, the benefits still far outweigh the risks of this vaccination.”

Dr. Archana Chatterjee, pediatric infectious disease specialist and member of the FDA’s Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biological Products, echoed Parikh’s remark. She added that there is nothing “unusual” in the way US health officials are addressing the problem.

“This is a normal procedure that occurs,” she said.

“But of course whenever a serious adverse event is reported about a vaccine that raises public concern,” she added. “If you talk about vaccine trust or vaccine reluctance, could it have an impact? It certainly is possible.”

Dr. Paul Offit, another member of the Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Allied Biological Products, hopes Americans will be “rational” about the problem, adding that cases of blood clots seem extremely rare. He noted that convincing people in hard-to-reach communities could be a challenge.

“It should be reassuring to the people that the officials are still looking [at the vaccine], even for rare side effects, “he said.

– CNBC’s Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this article.

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Airline, journey shares slip after U.S. recommends pause in J&J Covid vaccine

Airline, travel stocks slip after U.S. recommends pause in J&J Covid vaccine

Passengers board an American Airlines flight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on April 11, 2021.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

Airline and other travel stocks fell Tuesday after U.S. authorities called for a break in using Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine due to rare reports of blood clotting.

The Food and Drug Administration urged states to stop using the single-dose vaccine after six people in the United States developed a rare bleeding disorder after receiving the shot. J&J said that “no clear causal link” was found between the blood clots and the vaccine and that it is working with regulators to assess the problem.

The recommendation comes just as airlines and other travel companies reported an improvement in bookings after coronavirus cases peaked earlier this year and more people were vaccinated.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines stocks both fell more than 3% in morning trading. American Airlines shares were down about 5%. The Fort Worth-based airline estimated Tuesday that first quarter revenue was 62% lower than in the first quarter of 2019.

American expects a net loss of $ 2.7 billion to $ 2.8 billion for the quarter, excluding state wage support for the sector. The airline said its daily cash use averaged $ 27 million per day for the quarter, including $ 9 million per day in debt and severance payments, down from the previously estimated $ 30 million.

The cruise companies Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line each gained more than 2%, while Marriott and Hilton both declined more than 1%.

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Pausing J&J Covid vaccine may have far reaching results: Dr. Kavita Patel

U.S. states face steep decline in J&J vaccine

Dr. Kavita Patel told CNBC on Tuesday that she believes the Food and Drug Administration’s recommendation that states stop using Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid vaccine is likely to have a lasting impact on the country’s efforts to fight the pandemic.

“This is a devastating blow to this J&J vaccination effort in the US,” said Patel, a family doctor in Washington, DC, in an interview on Squawk Box. She also worked on health initiatives in the Obama administration while serving as director of policy for the Bureau of Interstate Affairs and Public Engagement.

Patel said the supply of Pfizer and Moderna’s two-shot vaccines will not be able to quickly meet the demand caused by the J&J hiatus. This will delay US vaccination efforts, she added.

The FDA recommendation, released Tuesday, came after six people in the US experienced rare and severe blood clotting problems after receiving the J&J vaccine.

In a tweet, the US regulator said its actions were taken “out of caution”.

All six cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 48, with symptoms developing six to 13 days after receiving the shot.

So far, J&J has said that there is “no clear causal link” between these rare events and the vaccine. The US drug giant also said it was working with regulators.

While she anticipates that Moderna and Pfizer will at some point be able to “fill some of that void,” said Patel, “it will be some time” before these other vaccine manufacturers have additional doses available in the US

A particular challenge in discontinuing the administration of J & J’s vaccine is that it only requires a single shot, while Moderna and Pfizer’s mRNA vaccines require two doses for complete protection of immunity.

“We just can’t replace it for the next week or three,” said Patel, a medical assistant for NBC News and a non-resident of the Brookings Institution. “This will delay our vaccination efforts.”

To compensate for this, the US could consider reducing second-dose administration to recipients of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Patel suggested.

The Chief Medical Officer of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has spoken out against requests earlier in the pandemic.

The second dose of Moderna is supposed to be given four weeks after the first, while Pfizer is three weeks apart.

“You will hear a renewal for calls to delay that second shot so we can get that many first shots in the arms. It’s not an unreasonable thing to think about now,” said Patel.

“If we postpone the second dose of Moderna or Pfizer for a week or two, it might actually help us fill some of that void faster,” she added.