LONDON – European markets closed higher on Wednesday as investors hoped a Brexit trade deal could be reached amid concerns over approval of a long-belated US coronavirus stimulus package. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 Index tentatively closed 1.1% with Travel & Leisure stocks rising 3.67% to lead earnings. Healthcare stocks bucked the trend, slipping 0.4%. On…

Dr. Atul Gawande, a coronavirus advisor to President-elect Joe Biden, told CNBC on Wednesday that he had participated in Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine study. “My mom, 84, said, ‘I want to give something back,’ so she signed up for the trial. I said if my mom can, I’ll sign up for a vaccination trial,” said Gawande…

[The stream is slated to start at 3:30 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] Health Department and Pentagon officials hold a joint briefing Wednesday on the Trump administration’s Operation Trump Warp Speed ​​Covid-19 vaccination program as Americans receive some of the first few shots.…

People walk past the closed entrance of the Eurostar terminal at Brussels South Station after the UK’s European neighbors closed their doors to travelers from the UK on December 21, 2020 in Brussels, Belgium. Yves Herman | Reuters LONDON – Afraid, angry and alone. So many people in the UK are feeling just two days…

Snow falls as people wearing face masks walk through the Asakusa district on March 29, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Tomohiro Ohsumi | Getty Images SINGAPORE – Towards the end of 2020, many investors are viewing Asia as the region with one of the best economic prospects for the next year as the coronavirus outbreak can…

A medical staff administers a free Covid-19 test at a state drive-through test site in the parking lot of the University of Texas, El Paso campus on November 23, in El Paso, Texas amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak , 2020. Ivan Pierre Aguirre | Reuters Al Weiss went to New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital…

Aviation industry workers hold signs during a protest in the Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois on September 9, 2020. Kamil Krzaczynski | AFP | Getty Images U.S. airlines have begun the complicated process of recalling 32,000 workers they took on leave this fall. This is a condition airlines must meet in order to receive additional…

UPS package handlers Jesirae Elzey and Demeatres Ralston unload boxes of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine when it arrives at UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky on December 20, 2020. Michael Clevenger | Pool | Reuters Coronavirus vaccine distribution has been slower than US officials hoped, as the number of vaccinations is well below the US government’s target…

The U.S. started vaccinating the population against the coronavirus last week, but mass adoption isn’t a guarantee. Nearly 4 in 10 Americans say they would “definitely” or “probably” not get a vaccine, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center of 12,648 US adults from Nov. 18-29. While this is better than Pew’s September…

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told CNBC that “it was very likely” that the US government is close to a deal with Pfizer for up to 100 million additional doses of Covid vaccine. “It’s good news that it sounds very likely,” said Collins. “We’re going to have 400 million doses…