EU approves second vaccine

Private salaries contracted in December for the first time since April, reports CNC’s Jeff Cox.

The number of jobs fell by 123 000 during the month, a sharp decrease compared to the 60 000 that economists expected. The national job market was recovering from widespread business shutdowns in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

–Sara Salinas

European Union health regulators have approved Moderna’s Covid vaccine for use in the 27-nation bloc. It is the second type of medicine to be approved by the European Medicines Agency, reports Silvia Amaro of CNBC.

The green light could help start the explosion of vaccines in Europe, which has been criticized for a slow pace and occasional accidents.

Moderna’s vaccine has previously been approved in the UK and US, where it is currently being distributed and administered. The vaccine, similar to that of Pfizer, is a two-dose regimen and 94% effective in clinical trials.

—Sara Salinas

A new virus strain that has emerged in South Africa is causing concern. Similar to a variant discovered in the United Kingdom in recent months, the tensions that have arisen in South Africa appear to be more transferable.

So far, scientists do not believe that any new variant is more deadly. But more communicable means more people can become infected and consequently can mean more serious infections and more deaths.

Questions are now being raised about whether the coronavirus vaccines that have been developed at an incredible rate in the past year will be effective against significant mutations of the virus, such as those identified in South Africa. CNBC watches what we know about this new tribe (and what we do not know).

–Holly Ellyatt