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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen holds a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on December 13, 2020 after speaking to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the phone.

Olivier Hoslet | Reuters

LONDON – The European Union doubles its inventory of Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccines as concerns about adoption mount across 27 member states.

The vaccine developed with German biotechnology was the first to be approved by European regulatory authorities. It has been administered across the region since December 27th. However, the rollout was inconsistent and the European Commission was criticized for not buying more vaccine.

The Commission has argued that, at the request of Member States, it has a diversified portfolio of vaccination contracts, totaling up to 2.3 billion doses of “the most promising candidates”.

“As you know, we currently have access to 300 million doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine. Now the good news is: we have now agreed with BioNTech-Pfizer to renew this contract. With the new agreement, we could buy more in total another 300 million cans, “said the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at a press conference on Friday.

This would mean the EU is on track to receive 600 million doses of this vaccine. Speaking to CNBC in December, Pfizer’s CEO pledged to produce a total of 1.3 billion cans in 2021, which would mean Europe would get almost half of its annual output.

75 million cans of the new order will be available in the second quarter of 2021. The rest will be delivered in the third and fourth quarters.

The Netherlands only started vaccinating its citizens this week and the bureaucracy has reportedly made France one of the biggest stragglers in distributing the shock.

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 15 million cases of coronavirus have been reported in the region to date.

European regulators approved a second coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday. Moderna’s candidate is expected to be available to European citizens in the coming days.

“Europe will have more than enough vaccines within a reliable timeframe, and this shows that the path that we have taken in the European Union is the right one,” said von der Leyen on Friday, rejecting the criticism.

A health care worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services in the ultra-Orthodox Israeli city of Bnei Brak on January 6, 2021.

JACK GUEZ | AFP | Getty Images

As the US, UK and Europe try to speed up their own Covid vaccination campaigns, one country is surpassing them all: Israel.

Israel’s vaccination campaign began on December 19 with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first person to be vaccinated in the country. Priority will be given to people over 60, healthcare workers and all clinically vulnerable people – reportedly making up around a quarter of the 9 million population.

It is ahead of other countries that have also started introducing vaccinations. To date, experts have said that around 1.5 million people in Israel received their first vaccine shot as a new lockdown came amid an increase in coronavirus cases.

According to Dr. Boaz Lev, chairman of the Disease Control and Coronavirus Vaccines Advisory Committee, has now vaccinated around 60% of the priority groups for the vaccine, although some of them are difficult to reach, such as those who only live at home by Israel’s Ministry of Health. The country is vaccinating around 150,000 people daily, he added, and intends to have vaccinated most of the country by April.

“The main goal of our vaccination program is to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible,” said Lev.

Lessons for the rest of the world

From logistics to public information campaigns, there are a number of lessons other countries could learn from trying to speed up their own vaccination campaigns.

“First of all … plan ahead. Be prepared, run a big information campaign and gain people’s trust, that’s on one side,” Lev told CNBC on Wednesday.

“Then you create a good flow of vaccines, a good flow of people … with a good administrative background so you can register them and let them know when to come for their next push. So there are a lot of things that which is basically about planning ahead and rolling it out to make it flow. “

In this aerial photo, taken in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday January 4, 2020, people are queuing outside a Covid-19 mass vaccination center in Rabin Sqaure. Israel plans to vaccinate 70% to 80% of its population by April or May. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has said.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Israeli officials weren’t sure how many vaccinations the country ordered, but vaccine manufacturers reported that they received 8 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and 6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine (the first batch of which was due to it) Arrival Thursday). It was not disclosed how much Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine the country ordered.

All of these vaccines require that each have two doses; There are reports that Israel paid higher vaccine prices than it competed to supply larger countries.

Lev said Israel’s ambitious goal of vaccinating the majority of its population through its public hospitals and vaccination centers requires careful planning. “We have to set up the logistics for this, and that takes a huge effort,” he said.

“The next is to be in the correct order in vaccinating people. Unless we have an abundance of vaccines … we need to have a very orderly queue so we know who is being vaccinated, and that should be loud some Principles, “he added. “It should be safe, it should be flexible, it should be as simple as possible, but it should also follow the principle that those who are more vulnerable should get it first … to avoid mortality and morbidity (of the pandemic) . “

Logistics and sales

Public health experts told CNBC that there were a number of factors that made it possible for Israel to vaccinate so efficiently, including the small population and geography and the efficiency of its health system.

Israel has a public health system in which everyone has to belong to one of four health organizations (HMOs) that work a bit like the UK’s National Health Service. Vaccine supplies were distributed to these HMOs, who in turn distributed them to their respective members.

Ronit Calderon-Margalit, professor of epidemiology at Hadassah-Hebrew University’s Braun School of Public Health, told CNBC on Wednesday that the vaccination campaign exceeded their expectations. “It’s amazing, it’s way beyond my wildest dreams and I don’t get to say that often,” she said.

People will receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a Covid-19 mass vaccination center on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel on Monday January 4, 2020.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

She attributed part of this success to the efficiency of the four HMOs: Clalit, Maccabi, Meuhedet and Leumit or “Kupot Cholim” as they are collectively known.

“They all have vaccines from the government to vaccinate the population, and they are very good at the logistics of distributing services that vaccines,” she said. Experts told CNBC that at the end of the day, hospitals and clinics are also giving the vaccines to people outside of the priority groups so as not to waste supplies.

The Israeli health system is heavily digitized, so anyone who receives the vaccine is registered as such by the Ministry of Health.

Israel recorded 466,916 cases of the virus and 3,527 deaths as of Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University. As in other countries, there has been an increase in infections over the winter.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu blamed a new, more transmissible strain of virus, first identified in the UK (what he called the “British mutation”), responsible for an increase in cases in the country. Due to the wave of infections, Israel will enter a new strict lockdown for two weeks on Thursday at midnight.

In addition to vaccination centers and clinics, hospitals are of course at the forefront.

Yoel Har-Even is Director of International and Resource Development at Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital in the Middle East (and by the way, where Netanyahu was vaccinated in December).

He told CNBC on Wednesday that his hospital had vaccinated around 45,000 people in the past two weeks.

These people range from the most at risk, including police officers and Holocaust survivors, an experience that Har-Even said was very moving, to teachers. He said everyone he met was happy to have received the vaccine (sentiment against vaccines is low in Israel) and the mainstream media of all political lines supported the vaccination campaign.

“We understand that this is a crucial time and everyone here agrees,” said Har-Even. “It reminds us a little of a time of war in Israel and when there is war there is unity.”

He added that people’s acceptance and willingness to receive the vaccine is a cause for great pride.

“You just have to see the lines and the queues of people standing still, there is no pushing or screaming,” he said. “The time of the corona means (the vaccination campaign) that it runs faster, quieter and with much, much more order and efficiency in the process.”

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday explained how stocks rebounded for two consecutive days, despite Wednesday’s Capitol Hill riot inspired by President Donald Trump.

One key to the market rally, according to Cramer, is eliminating uncertainty for forward-thinking investors. While the chaos erupted and the nation’s Capitol complex closed, the results of the presidential election were approved and the litigation ended, he said.

“We’re seeing the chaos in Washington, but many believe that storming the Capitol will be the flood of discord. The elections are finally over, the results are confirmed, the challenges are over. After years of polarization, the possibility of unity exists. “said the Mad Money host, presenting a darker tone than his usual optimistic self.

A protester yells “freedom” in the Senate Chamber after the US Capitol was breached by a mob during a joint congressional session on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Win McNamee | Getty Images

When a crowd of ardent Trump supporters took over Congress and disrupted the confirmation of Joe Biden’s presidential victory, Wall Street seemed unimpressed with the scene as key averages hit new highs.

Not only will Biden, a Democrat, be inaugurated in less than two weeks, he will have party membership in both the House and Senate. Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republicans in the Georgia Senate runoff on Tuesday, overturning the Senate Chamber in their party’s favor.

The two victories follow Biden’s election victory in Georgia, making him the second Democrat to win the state in more than four decades.

“Whether you love Trump or hate him, there is no denying that he is a divisive figure, but that is voluntary,” added Cramer. “Two weeks and he’s out of work.”

Trump supporters stand on top of the U.S. Capitol Police armored vehicle while others take the Capitol’s steps on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 as Congress works to validate the electoral college’s votes.

Bill Clark | CQ Appeal, Inc. | Getty Images

US stocks extended their profit streak in Thursday’s trading session, with the Nasdaq Composite, the only major index to fall on Wednesday, rising 2.5% to 13,067.48 and closing above 13,000 for the first time.

The blue chip Dow also rose nearly 212 points to 31,041.13, an increase of 0.69%. The benchmark index S&P 500 rose 1.48% to 3,803.79.

All three stock indices have risen by at least 12% to new closing highs since the November 3rd election.

“The bottom line is that on days like today it will help you reshape action. The stock market is not a referendum on the state of the nation … it’s a stock market,” Cramer said. “When investors see few reasons to sell and many reasons to buy, the averages go up regardless of the craziness in the capital.”

Cramer cited nine other reasons why the market rose despite the violent event on Wednesday at the Capitol.

One of Cramer’s reasons is that due to low bond yields, investors have little choice but to invest in stocks, resulting in higher stock prices as the number of buyers in the market outnumber the sellers. As the federal government hands out another round of stimulus checks to individuals, excess money flows into the market, leading to higher demand for stocks.

In addition, many companies listed on the S&P 500 are pursuing their share buyback programs, resulting in a lower supply of shares in the market. Buying is also amplified by automated trading systems or machines that have no emotional response and are not programmed to take into account the violent images coming from Washington, Cramer said.

“Because there is a lot of group think on Wall Street, they are usually given the same instructions: buy industry and sell technology [stocks] If it looks like the economy is about to pick up, like it did yesterday, “he said.” You weren’t programmed to sell if a mob attacked our legislature. “

After making a splash last year with the launch of Corona Hard Seltzer, Constellation Brands, the parent company, is preparing to introduce new flavors for the hard drink later this year, CEO Bill Newlands told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday .

“It’s a great opportunity,” he said in a Mad Money interview after the company released its third fiscal year 2021 results.

Constellation, whose portfolio includes Corona Extra, Modelo Especial and Svedka Vodka, launched a series of Corona Selters in the spring of 2020, backed by a $ 40 million marketing boost to get into the popular among millennials To enter the beverage category.

After the company sold 10 million cases of Seltzer last year, the company plans to introduce something called Variety Pack # 2, Newlands said.

“It’s a growing category and we’re going to take a significant stake in that,” he said.

Constellation reported that the seltzer product exceeded its volume expectations. According to Newlands, the company plans to more than double the capacity of Selters in the coming year.

The current variety package available on store shelves includes tropical lime, mango, cherry and blackberry lime. Newlands didn’t say what flavors might be in the upcoming launch.

Corona’s announcement “Soon ashore”.

corona

Overall, the Corona brand family grew nearly 12% in IRI market data, according to the company.

Constellation Brands shares rose 2.3% on Thursday to hit a record $ 228.87. The company released its quarterly report before the market opened, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations.

Constellation reported adjusted earnings per share of $ 3.09 on revenue of $ 2.44 billion, up nearly 22% year over year for the quarter ended November. The earnings per share increased by 44% compared to the previous year.

The company said it managed to offset the roughly 35% decrease in on-premise or restaurant and bar sales due to the coronavirus pandemic with off-premise or retail beer sales.

“We have the brands that are in demand and one of the things that people do when they buy for the home is they stick with things they know and they stick with things they trust and us have brands that people trust, “Newlands said.

In 2020, the stake in Constellation Brands increased by more than 15%. The stock has more than doubled from its pandemic lows in late March.