Covid live updates: U.S. service sector activity at highest level in nearly two years; private sector jobs surge

The U.S.’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned against holding or attending Super Bowl parties during the pandemic, the Associated Press reports. Football fans should “just lay low and cool it,” he said.

Fauci made the remarks during TV interviews, saying that now is the wrong time to invite people over to watch the big game because some may unknowingly be infected with Covid-19 and could spread the virus to other partygoers, AP reported.

“You don’t want parties with people that you haven’t had much contact with,” Fauci told NBC’s “Today” show. “You just don’t know if they’re infected, so, as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it.”

—Terri Cullen

The U.K. is attempting to contain the spread of various strains of the coronavirus in the country, with a new South Africa variant popping up around the country, and sometimes with no links to international travel, according to a report by CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the country had to “come down hard” on the South Africa strain after 105 cases were logged, with 11 of the cases showing no links to international travel. The variant known as the “British strain” makes up most of the cases in the country.

Viruses mutate all the time and the discovery of variants is normal, but experts worry that variants may mean a faster and further spread of the virus.

As of Feb. 1, almost 10 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and just under 500,000 have received a second dose, according to government numbers.

—Rich Mendez

Activity in the U.S. service sector reached its highest level in nearly two years, raising hopes the sector battered by the pandemic may be on the mend, Reuters reports.

The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing activity index rose to 58.7 in January — the highest reading since February 2019 and above its pre-pandemic level, Reuters said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the reading to come in at 56.8.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the service sector.

Consumer spending shifted drastically from services to goods as the pandemic forced lockdowns and drove people away from crowded public places such as restaurants and bars, according to Reuters. Now that multiple drugmakers have begun production and distribution of vaccines, hopes are rising that the virus can be contained and the economy can soon return to some semblance of normalcy.

—Terri Cullen

Older Americans across the U.S. who are now eligible for Covid-19 vaccines are struggling to book an appointment for the life-saving drug online. Some have recruited younger family members or friends who can quickly maneuver through the registration process before all of the spots are taken.

However, the amount of doses from Pfizer and Moderna are still limited, which has triggered demand that has far outpaced supply. 

“I wanted to throw my computer out the window. It was so extremely frustrating,” said Jane Heller, a 70-year-old author and screenwriter based in Florida.

Angela Abruzzino, of Buffalo County, New York, said she’s been trying for days to book appointments for her parents, who are over 80 years old. The process has been a full-time effort, and it’s so far been fruitless, she said.

“My parents would not have been able to do it on their own,” Abruzzino said.

—Noah Higgins-Dunn, Will Feuer

Biotech firm Vaxart said its experimental coronavirus vaccine taken by mouth showed promising results in an early-stage clinical trial of 35 healthy adults.

The vaccine, which is in a small tablet, generated a type of T-cell responsible for destroying virus-infected cells in about 75% of volunteers who received a single low or high dose, the company said, adding that the reported responses were higher than those seen in Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines.

However, neutralizing antibodies were not detected in volunteers after a single dose, Vaxart said. Researchers believe the antibodies play an important role in defending cells against the virus.

The company also said no severe adverse events were reported in the phase one trial, with side effects generally being mild.

“The most exciting thing about the [phase one data] is we can get a very, very, strong T-cell response even after one dose,” Vaxart chief scientific officer Sean Tucker told CNBC in a phone interview. He added that T-cells are probably “underappreciated” compared to antibodies in fighting the virus.

—Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Private companies in the U.S. added 174,000 new jobs in January, blowing out the 50,000 gain expected by Wall Street economists, CNBC’s Jeff Cox reports.

The national labor market continues to wage a recovery from widespread coronavirus shutdowns and historic unemployment. That rebound has been rocky of late, as a resurgence in virus transmission and more contagious variants threaten communities.

—Sara Salinas

British pharmaceutical GlaxoSmithKline and German biotech CureVac have reached a 150 million euro ($180 million) deal to develop next-generation vaccines against Covid-19 that aim to target “multiple emerging variants in one vaccine.”

The companies said in a joint statement that they were targeting a possible launch in 2022, subject to regulatory approval.

GSK said it will also support the manufacturing of up to 100 million doses of CureVac’s first generation Covid-19 vaccine CVnCoV in 2021.

—Holly Ellyatt

The U.K.’s decision to delay the second shot of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford coronavirus vaccine has been found to be an effective strategy, according to the results of a new study, which also concluded that one shot can cut transmission of the virus.

Researchers at the University of Oxford found that the Covid-19 vaccine was 76% effective at preventing symptomatic infection for three months after a single dose, and in fact, found that the efficacy rate rose with a longer interval between the first and second doses.

The efficacy rate rose to 82.4% when there was at least a 12-week interval before the second dose. When the second dose was given less than six weeks after the first one, the efficacy rate was 54.9%.

The study, not yet peer-reviewed, also found a 67% reduction in transmission after the first dose of the vaccine. The U.K.’s health secretary said Wednesday the study’s findings were “absolutely superb.”

—Holly Ellyatt