Airways and tech giants have competing plans

USC School of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Richard Dang (R) gives Ashley Van Dyke a Covid-19 vaccine as a mass vaccination of health care workers is happening on January 15, 2021 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Irfan Khan | AFP | Getty Images

People vaccinated against Covid-19 at Dodger Stadium will leave the virus with a vaccination against the virus, a patch on their arm and a CDC card with handwritten information such as when it was made available and what type of vaccine it was given.

The CDC card is a tradition that dates back to the 1880s when paper cards were first used to allow students to return to school during a smallpox outbreak.

Now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, these maps are being digitized.

LA County patients can sign up to receive a text message with a link to the same information as on the paper card. The message also offers the option of sending a follow-up text to remind the patient to return to the second dose.

It also includes a link for adding all of this data to Apple Wallet, a built-in iPhone app that is typically used to store event tickets and aircraft boarding passes. It can also be added to Google Wallet and downloaded as a PDF file.

“You gave these CDC paper cards that show you received them, but we were concerned about it early on because people just carry their phones around these days,” said Claire Jarashow, director of vaccine preventable disease control at Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said.

The Los Angeles Wallet Pass is one of the first examples in the US of a digital Covid-19 vaccine record that allows patients to save information about their vaccination status on their phones and quickly create it for anyone who needs to know an airline, school or company a stadium where a concert will take place as soon as it is safe again.

Whether they accept it is another question.

There is currently no international or national coordination of best practices for the implementation of vaccination records. As a result, companies hosting major events have no authority to refer to what is legal and what is ethical when choosing their policies and technologies.

The FDA has not approved any third party companies to provide real-time vaccination results. A World Health Organization committee examining the issue met this week but has not released its findings.

What airlines do

The Los Angeles wallet passes are essentially a digital version of the old paper certificate. Authorities cannot verify that it is legitimate or that it has been faked.

In the meantime, various companies, trade groups, and nonprofits are rushing to build competing systems that offer additional security and functionality.

The aviation industry is particularly motivated as it faces a second straight year of depressed international travel. It really wants a system that can be checked and verified as airlines have seen people come up with fake or photoshopped Covid-19 tests so they can fly.

“The world tends to need something to illustrate that you’ve had your test or vaccine to make travel possible,” said Nick Careen, senior vice president, International Air Transport Association (IATA). , a trading group that includes 290 airlines. “We can’t do this manually for the entire planet. Ultimately, we have to digitize.”

This week, Emirates Airlines announced it would be using an IATA-developed app called Travel Pass to check Covid-19 tests before departing Dubai. IATA hopes the system will reduce long queues at airports when employees have to manually evaluate paper records.

According to Careen, there are plans to extend the Travel Pass to vaccines as soon as possible.

A passport for medical records

Medical privacy is another consideration – some proponents say there is no point for a security guard or administrator to have access to medical details that are usually on the paper card, such as: B. what vaccine or test a person received and where the shot took place. Instead, the system should be as simple as scanning a barcode and quickly saying yes or no.

“The whole point is that the auditor is effectively telling what the rules are,” said Paul Meyer, CEO of the Commons Project, which is developing a passport app called CommonPass that tests United Airlines. “The rule could be to have a test in the last 72 hours, or to have both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. All CommonPass does is say red or green. You meet the rules. “

The Commons project is working with a group of technology and health giants to develop common standards – essentially a new type of computer file that can contain vaccination records with all the necessary safety and informational information.

These companies, which include Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Cerner, Epic, and Cigna, are not only looking for vaccines, but they’re creating a world where medical records can be accessed from vendors and stored on your phone.

The market for health record technology is potentially huge. It is estimated to be $ 31.5 billion in 2018 and growing 6% annually. Apple (not part of the coalition) already has a system that allows people to save health records on their phones – and which can also be used for vaccination records.

“This is just one kind of really urgent use case that requires it, but it can also help catalyze what should be there anyway. This is the ability for individuals to use any app to get their health information and be in control of it to take them over, “said Meyer.

However, some of the people working on these technologies fear that they are overdeveloped for the short term problem of getting people back to work and play. They point to an exposure notification, a novel technology developed by Apple and Google at the start of the pandemic to anonymously alert people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. While the system was neatly designed to protect privacy, the apps were only launched in the US in the second half of last year and are not widely used.

“When it comes to digital vaccination records, a lot of people solve the third, fourth, and fifth order problems. If it could be amazing, it would look like ‘X’. We focus on the first order problem, where patients have access to theirs in one way Get vaccination information beyond a piece of paper, “said Ramin Bastani, CEO of Healthvana, who developed the software used by Los Angeles Public Health.

Due to the large number of approaches, it is unlikely that a single uniform system will emerge in the USA. Instead, users will likely need multiple proofs on their phone – possibly an airline credential, a wallet pass for the school exhibit, and another app for the sports game.

“Of course, if everyone builds their own credentials system, you can’t talk to each other,” said Jenny Wagner, program director at Linux Foundation Public Health. “All of a sudden, when you want to go to the movies in the cinema or in the office or on a plane, you have to download three different apps, generate the credentials three different ways, and do the paperwork three different times.”

Try the week’s most shocking movie star transformations

Tiffany Haddish was ready for some changes!

The comedian showed off not one but two big changes on social media this week. First, she rocked a bold new hairstyle that definitely made a statement, and then revealed the results of the 30-day challenge she accepted. Yes, we’re already feeling very lazy this year compared to the Girls Trip Star.

In other news, Ana de Armas showed off her dramatic haircut, including blunt bangs, following news of their breakup from Ben Affleck. But she wasn’t the only star to fringe things with her face lately.

Plus, Ricky Martin decided to try a blonde blonde look because, like all of us, he’s just kind of bored and Amanda Bynes revealed her hobby, which surprised fans.

Ford, IBM, Intel and Seagate

The IBM logo is displayed on a smartphone.

Rafael Henrique | SOPA Pictures | LightRocket | Getty Images

Check out the companies that are making headlines in midday trading.

Ford – The US automaker’s shares fell about 1%, pulling back from an all-time high in the previous session. The stock rose 6.2% on Thursday after Deutsche Bank and Barclays issued positive comments on Ford’s product plans and reported fourth quarter results on February 4. JPMorgan overweighted Ford from equilibrium to Ford on Friday. The stock gained more than 16% this week, making it its best week since June.

IBM – IBM stocks fell 10% after earnings report, which saw revenue decline more than analysts’ expectations. According to Refinitiv, IBM had fourth-quarter revenue of $ 20.37 billion, missing estimates of $ 20.67 billion. However, the result exceeded estimates.

Intel – The chipmaker’s shares fell more than 8% despite the company’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Intel had adjusted earnings per share of $ 1.52 on revenue of $ 20 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations of $ 1.10 per share and $ 17.49 billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv . Part of the stock price decline was the reverse of a surge in Thursday’s late session that followed an early release of Intel’s results.

CSX Corp. The railroad company’s shares were down more than 2% despite CSX beating revenue and earnings estimates in the fourth quarter. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $ 1.04, 3 cents above consensus guidance. FactSet estimates that sales were $ 2.83 billion, above the expected $ 2.77 billion.

Seagate Technology – Seagate shares fell nearly 6% despite decent mid-day earnings results. The downward pressure is also likely due to the already high expectations analysts and investors had of the company prior to the quarterly report. Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson wrote on Friday morning: “Without a clear driver for short-term upside moves or the certainty of longer-term technological advantage, we maintain our neutral view of the name.”

PPG Industries – The paint maker’s stock also fell in mid-day trading, despite earnings and sales beating expectations for the fourth quarter. Sam Hudson, an analyst at Atlantic Equities, noted that the company had failed to provide guidance for fiscal 2021 and wrote that a recent rise in raw material costs could affect second quarter results.

– CNBC’s Pippa Stevens, Yun Li, Maggie Fitzgerald and Jesse Pound contributed to the coverage

In line with TGI Fridays CEO, ending the minimal wage would increase costs

Ray Blanchette, CEO of TGI Fridays, said President Joe Biden’s proposal to remove the minimum wage would likely result in fewer hours for the chain’s staff and higher menu prices.

Biden has proposed raising the federal hourly minimum wage from $ 7.25 to $ 15 and removing tip credits, a change that would primarily affect the hospitality industry. The changes would mean employers would have to pay each employee at least $ 15 an hour, even if they were tipped.

In 43 states, employers can only pay their employees $ 2.13 an hour as long as the hourly wage and tips add up to the local wage floor. Otherwise the employer has to make up the difference. The minimum wage was last raised in 1991.

TGI Fridays is already paying most kitchen workers more than $ 15 an hour, according to Blanchette. The pain would come from paying your waiters the new minimum wage.

“In front of the house, where we spend many hours, we would cut working hours significantly if something so dramatic happened,” said Blanchette on Friday in CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”. “And we would have to raise prices considerably, which does not seem right.”

He also said the changes would create inequalities between different types of workers.

“If the cooks are making $ 15 to $ 18 an hour and then suddenly the waitresses are making $ 40 an hour, it doesn’t make sense to me,” said Blanchette.

In many states, there are already significant wage gaps between employees in front of and behind the door due to tips, especially in upscale restaurants. Some activists have pushed for an end to the practice altogether.

The full-service restaurant industry is largely against ending the tip credit, arguing that it harms workers, employers and customers. Proponents, however, say that the tip credit creates too much uncertainty for workers and that employers often break the law when it comes to making up the difference when the tip falls below the minimum wage. Three years ago the UK fined TGI Fridays for failing to pay employees the country’s minimum wage.

Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have already banned the minimum wage. New York State has removed tips for employers other than restaurants and bars.

Blanchette also said that TGI Fridays will not require its employees to receive the Covid-19 vaccine if it is available to them. Instead, he said the restaurant chain was “likely” to offer workers a financial incentive. Trader Joe’s, Dollar General, and Chobani are among the companies that choose to pay their employees to be vaccinated.

Steve Harvey reacts to his daughter Lori Harvey’s relationship too

Roommates, while most of us love the relationship between Nugget and Turtle, AKA Lori Harvey, and Michael B. Jordan, not everyone is that easy to impress. Yesterday on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, Steve shared how he feels when Michael goes out with his daughter.

Steve said, “I like this one. I still have my eye on him. I mean, I like him, but like I tell everyone, I might like you, I like to approve of you, but I have a thumb-sized part of my heart that’s just filled with sheer hatred of your a *. Just in case I need it. “

Steve went on to say, “Like now. Nice guy but I have this little department partner who just click a switch and I can hate your a **. “Because for me you are not the sexiest man in the world!” he said. “Let’s get that straight.”

If you remember, we reported that Lori and Michael brought their relationship to the public on January 10th by posting some cute Lil pics of each other to seemingly confirm their relationship!

Michael first made their relationship with IG official when he posted some photos of himself and Lori that somehow make you squint. In one photo, Lori looks up at him and they seem to be kissing.

Shortly thereafter, Lori followed with her own pictures, which were labeled with a brown emoji heart, doubled and made their relationship public. They revealed their cute nicknames on Instagram on Lori’s birthday on January 13th. Michael commented on Lori’s Instagram post with the words: “Gimmie !! My goodness !! Happy birthday turtle !! ”And included some drooling emojis – and she responded with” Thank you nugget “.

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Trump thought-about ousting the lawyer common with a purpose to overturn the elections

President Donald J. Trump stops to speak to reporters as he boards Marine One and departs from the South Lawn at the White House.

The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump had planned earlier this month to oust Jeffrey Rosen as acting attorney general and replace him with a Justice Department attorney who would support his efforts to reverse the presidential election results, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The plan would have replaced Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, the attorney who ran the Department of Justice’s civil division. Clark would then have backed Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud and put pressure on Georgia state officials to change the election result.

A Justice Department official familiar with the matter confirmed the Times’ report of Trump’s efforts to NBC News.

Trump’s plan ultimately failed to materialize after Justice Department officials agreed during a conference call that they would resign if Rosen was fired, the Times said.

Trump had asked Rosen to appoint special advisors to investigate his allegations of widespread electoral fraud as well as the Dominion voting machine company, but Rosen declined.

Trump attempted to pressure Georgia’s top polling officer to “find the scam” in December when investigating suspected election fraud in Cobb County. Allegations that state officials believed to be unfounded. Trump also called on Georgian Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes to postpone the election in his favor.

In a statement to the Times, Clark categorically denied that he had devised a plan to oust Rosen or give recommendations for action based on factual inaccuracies found on the Internet.

The House has accused Trump of instigating an anti-government riot on Jan. 6 after deadly unrest in the Capitol. His impeachment proceedings against the Senate are due to begin in the week of February 8th.

Read the full Times report here

The Mega Hundreds of thousands jackpot is $ 1 billion. What you need to know earlier than shopping for

MARK RALSTON | AFP | Getty Images

At some point, Friday night or later, someone will win the Mega Millions jackpot.

You probably won’t be.

With the odds against players matching all six numbers required to reach the mother lode, the lottery game grand prize for the Friday night drawing has reached an estimated value of $ 1 billion. The cash option – which most winners prefer to annuity – is $ 739.6 million (pre-tax). The jackpot is also the third largest in US lottery history.

The Friday night draw comes just days after another huge amount of money was won on another lottery game: a ticket purchased in Maryland hit the Powerball jackpot of $ 731.1 million ($ 546.8 million in bar), making it the sixth largest prize of all time.

“We know that players love big jackpots and when the numbers are that big it becomes a national phenomenon,” said Gordon Medenica, Maryland lottery director and chief executive officer of Mega Millions.

“Everyone wants to dream about what they would do if they won.”

The Mega Millions jackpot has been rising since mid-September when someone hit $ 120 million ($ 95.4 million in cash) and the grand prize was reset to $ 20 million. That’s 37 weeks with no one matching all six numbers in twice weekly drawings. This is the longest run ever without a winner, according to lottery officials.

Each Mega Millions ticket has a 1 in 302 million chance of winning the jackpot. It’s a little better for Powerball: 1 in 292 million.

Even if you bought multiple tickets, you wouldn’t move the needle much. To give yourself a 50:50 chance of winning the Mega Millions jackpot – that is, the same odds if you toss a coin once – you would have to buy over 151 million different combinations of numbers. Even then, you couldn’t guarantee that you would be the only winner.

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The biggest jackpot in US history – a Powerball prize of $ 1.59 billion in 2016 – was split into three types.

For the drawing on Friday evening, the lottery officials estimate that 40% of all possible number combinations will be played.

Of course you can win the game without hitting the jackpot. The last Mega Millions raffle, held on Tuesday evening, produced nearly 5.2 million winning tickets, according to lottery data. These included two winners of $ 2 million each, eleven winners of $ 1 million each, and 139 winners who won at least $ 10,000.

Once the Mega Millions jackpot is won, it will reset to $ 20 million.

Proof of a brand new British pressure of Covid might be extra lethal

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a press conference on Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Downing Street on January 15, 2021 in London, England.

Dominic Lipinski | Getty Images

LONDON – There is “some evidence” that a new variant of Covid, first identified in the UK, could be more deadly than the original variety, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday.

“We were informed today that not only is there a faster spread, but there is also evidence that the new variant – the variant first discovered in London and the south east (of England) – may be associated with a higher one Mortality rate, “Johnson told a press conference.

He added that all the evidence suggests that the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford University, both of which are currently in use in the UK, will remain effective against both the old and new variants of the virus.

The evidence is still in a preliminary stage and is being assessed by the Advisory Group on New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats, which is advising the UK Government.

The variant known as B.1.1.7 has an unusually high number of mutations and was already associated with more efficient and faster transmission.

Scientists first discovered this mutation in September. It has since been found in at least 44 countries, including the US, which has reported its presence in 12 states.

Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the US variant’s modeled trajectory “is growing rapidly in early 2021 and will become the predominant variant in March”.

Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, said alongside Johnson on Friday that there were early signs that the risk for those with the new variant was increased compared to the old virus.

“If you were to … take a man in his sixties, the average risk is that for every 1,000 people infected, about 10 would die from the virus. With the new variant, for 1,000 people infected, about 13 or 14 would be expected People are dying, “said Vallance.

He described the data as not yet strong and emphasized more concern about other variants of Covid in Brazil and South Africa.

The UK is currently in its third full lockdown as infection rage soars just before Christmas due to the new variant. The country reported another 1,401 deaths on Friday and has the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe at 96,166 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

– CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this article.

Capitol rioters charged with threats to assassinate the AOC

Protesters who support U.S. President Donald Trump break into the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021.

Win McNamee | Getty Images

A Dallas area man who joined a violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol earlier this month was accused of threatening Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a death threat in a social media post.

Garret Miller, 34, of Richardson, Texas, was arrested earlier this week on several charges related to the Capitol riot.

Miller’s attorney, Clinton Broden, told CNBC that a threat charge was added to his client’s charges on Tuesday, the day before his arrest in Richardson. The increased fee came relatively soon after the first complaint was filed in federal court in Washington, DC, Broden said.

The other charges include entering or leaving buildings or land without proper authorization; forced entry and disorderly behavior for Capitol reasons; Obstruction or obstruction of an official process and certain acts during a civil incident.

The charges against Miller are based on prosecutors’ allegations that he threatened Rep. Ocasio Cortez, DN.Y., across state lines on social media. The maximum sentence is five years in prison.

Miller wrote “Assassinate AOC” in a Twitter post, according to the complaint. Miller also reportedly wrote about entering the Capitol building on his Instagram account, admitting that he “had a rope in hand” [his] Bag that day. “

Miller also threatened a Capitol Police officer who shot and killed a woman who tried to break through the Capitol during the riot. “We will take care of it [the USCP officer] and hug his neck with a nice rope[.]”Said Miller, according to the complaint.

“Mr. Miller regrets the measures he has taken to demonstrate his support for former President Trump,” said Broden. “He has the full support of his family and has always been a law-abiding citizen.”

“His social media comments reflect a very ill-considered political exaggeration in very divided times and will certainly not be repeated in the future,” Broden continued. “He’s looking forward to leaving it all behind.”

Broden added that he doesn’t think there is any evidence that Miller tried to carry out the threats.

Miller will appear for a hearing in federal court in Dallas on Monday. Prosecutors have said they want him to be detained pending trial, but Broden said he would advocate for Miller’s conditional release pending trial in Washington.

Responding to the complaint in which Miller allegedly bragged about his role in the riot online, Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet: “On the one hand, you have to laugh and, on the other, you have to know that the reason they were so bold is that they thought it would succeed. “

Ocasio-Cortez previously said she feared for her life during the uprising and that members of Congress were “almost murdered”.

“I didn’t know if I would make it to the end of this day alive, not just in a general sense, but also in a very, very specific sense,” said the Democratic representative in a live Instagram video on January 1st. 12 without explaining the details.

Pfizer provides as much as 40 million Covid vaccine doses to the worldwide Covax program

A nurse prepares the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on January 10, 2021 at a vaccination center in Sarcelles near Paris.

ALAIN JOCARD | AFP | Getty Images

Pfizer will deliver up to 40 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to a global alliance that aims to provide coronavirus vaccines to poor nations, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday.

The agreement will enable Covax – together with the WHO – to deliver vaccine doses to the participating countries from February, said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference. Tedros added that until an emergency is approved, the program expects 150 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to be available for distribution in the first quarter of this year.

The Covax program aims to provide 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to participating countries, which include low- to middle-income countries, by the end of this year. The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine requires two vaccinations spaced weeks apart, suggesting the deal would only cover 20 million people.

Tedros said the deal would allow other countries with supplies of Pfizer’s vaccine to donate them to the program. The WHO chief criticized wealthy nations for signing supply agreements with drug manufacturers for their starting doses of Covid-19 vaccines to stockpile supplies from poorer nations.

“This is not only important for COVAX, it is also an important step forward for equitable access to vaccines and an essential part of the global effort to fight this pandemic. We will only be safe everywhere if we are safe everywhere,” so Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said in a statement.

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said during the press conference that the company will make the vaccine doses available to Covax and poorer countries for a fee. Pfizer was the first company to receive a global list of emergency uses for its vaccine from the WHO, allowing other countries to expedite their regulatory approval processes to begin administering the vaccine.

Bourla said the company will help ship the cans, which require ultra-cold storage and special handling, to low-income countries. UNICEF, which is helping with the dispensing of the cans, previously warned that some of the world’s poorest countries could face the challenge of storing and managing the shots upon arrival.

The program’s contract with Pfizer increases supply agreements to a total of just over 2 billion doses, but negotiations for an additional supply continue. The goal, according to Covax, is to immunize healthcare and other frontline workers as well as some high-risk individuals from the first quarter of this year.

The agreement follows the United States’ decision to remain a member of WHO under President Joe Biden. The new administration will also join the Covax program, a move the Trump administration opposed last year.

“I couldn’t escape the temptation to say that I’m very happy that this press conference is taking place on the day the United States rejoins the WHO organization. I think it’s a symbolic, great day for us,” Pfizer boss Bourla said at the meeting.