Private wages are falling for the first time since April
Private wages contracted in December for the first time since April, according to CNBC’s Jeff Cox.
The number of jobs fell by 123,000 during the month, a sharp decrease compared to the 60,000 job winners expected by economists. The national job market had been in full swing after a large-scale shutdown of business in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
–Sara salinas
EU approves Moderna vaccine
Dave Lacknauth, Pharm. D., Director of Pharmacy Services, Broward Health Medical Center presents a bottle of Modern COVID-19 vaccine during a December 23, 2020 press conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
The health regulators for the European Union have approved the Coverna Moderna vaccine for use in the bloc of 27 nations. It is the second such drug to receive the approval of the European Medicines Agency, reports Silvia Amaro from CNBC.
The green light could help trigger the launch of vaccines in Europe, which has been criticized for slow pace and occasional inconvenience.
The Moderna vaccine was previously approved in the United Kingdom and the United States, where it is currently distributed and administered. The vaccine, similar to Pfizer, is a two-dose regimen and has been shown in clinical trials to be 94% effective.
“Sarah Salinas.”
The Covid variant found in South Africa worries experts
A new strain of the virus that has appeared in South Africa is a cause for concern. Similar to a variant discovered in the UK in recent months, the strain that appeared in South Africa is proving to be much more transmissible.
So far, scientists do not believe that any of the new variants is more deadly. But being more communicable means that more people can become infected and therefore could lead to more serious infections and more deaths.
Questions are now being raised as to whether high-speed coronavirus vaccines developed in the last year will be effective against significant mutations in the virus, such as the one identified in South Africa. CNBC is analyzing what we know (and what we don’t) about this new strain.
–Holly Ellyatt