Covid live updates: U.S. vaccine supply set to get a boost; stay-at-home trend lifts Home Depot earnings

Some schools have yet to return to in-person learning.

Despite President Joe Biden’s plan to help kindergarten-to-eighth-grade schools reopened as soon as possible, crowded classrooms, a shortage of available teachers and aging buildings with poor ventilation systems are just some of the challenges delaying the shift.

The Edmonds School District just north of Seattle, which includes 34 schools housing 22,000 students, has been fully remote since last March.

There is now a tentative re-entry plan to return to in-person learning on March 22. At that point, students in kindergarten, first and second grade will be able to attend in-person two days a week.

Gustavo Balderas, the district’s superintendent, said the schools have been able to tap some federal funds to purchase personal protective equipment and classrooms have been reconfigured to accommodate no more than 15 students — about half the size of a typical class pre-pandemic.

Still, the “teachers are nervous, and they are fearful and rightfully so,” he said. “The longer we wait, the more comfortable people are staying home.”

—Jessica Dickler

The supply of Covid-19 vaccine in the United States is slated to substantially ramp up next month with manufacturers doubling the pace of production, company executives said in prepared remarks to be delivered to Congress on Tuesday.

Pfizer expects to provide more than 13 million doses per week of its two-shot vaccine to the U.S. by mid-March, more than double the weekly number of doses the company was sending earlier this month, Pfizer’s Chief Business Officer John Young said in written testimony.

By April, Moderna hopes to deliver 40 million doses per month, roughly double the current pace, according to the company’s President Dr. Stephen Hoge.

The U.S. supply is also expected to be helped by new manufacturers entering the fray. The FDA is scheduled to review Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine on Thursday. J&J’s Vice President of Medical Affairs Dr. Richard Nettles said in his prepared testimony that the company plans to ship more than 20 million doses to the U.S. by the end of March.

—Will Feuer

Almost a year into the pandemic, many schools around the nation have yet to reopen their classrooms to students — and it is Black and Hispanic students who are suffering the most.

President Joe Biden has pledged to have a majority of K-8 students back in school full-time, five days a week, by the time he’s been in office for 100 days. Yet there has already been a significant learning loss, according to a December report by McKinsey & Company.

The firm estimates about 60% of K-12 students began the school year fully remote, while 20% began with a mix of both in-person and virtual. Another 20% went back into classrooms full time.

If everything remains status quo through the school year, students overall will lose nine months of math learning, the report predicted. Students of color, specifically, will lose 11 months or 12 months, compared with seven to eight months for white students.

That translates directly into a hit on their future earnings. White students would make $1,348 a year less over a 40-year working life, Hispanics would earn $1,809 less, and Black students would earn $2,186 a year less, according to early findings by the firm.

—Michelle Fox

Cuba’s most promising coronavirus vaccine candidate is due to begin late-stage clinical trials next week, putting the small island nation on the cusp of achieving an extraordinary medical breakthrough.

The vaccine, known as Soberana 02, is scheduled to enter Phase 3 trials from March 1, and officials say tests will include as many as 150,000 people within weeks. These tests represent the final stage before a vaccine is generally approved by national regulators.

Cuba’s Finlay Institute, the country’s leading biopharma institution, has hinted the vaccine could be available as an option to tourists later this year.

“People are already talking about sun, sea, sand and Soberana 02. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if people end up going to Cuba seeking the vaccine and I’m sure the Cubans will offer it,” Helen Yaffe, a Cuba expert and lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, told CNBC via telephone.

—Sam Meredith

Helane Becker, senior research analyst at Cowen, joined “Squawk Box” to discuss how airlines will benefit from “jailbreak” of pent-up demand when enough people are vaccinated.

—Melodie Warner

Home Depot’s fourth-quarter earnings revealed that many Americans are still investing in their homes.

The home improvement retailer topped Wall Street’s earnings estimates. Its U.S. same-store sales grew by 25% — matching the sharp growth rate it saw in the early quarters of the pandemic when homeowners tackled do-it-yourself projects, spruced up their yards and took advantage of mild spring weather.

Customers spent more when they visited the store, too. Home Depot said the average purchase rose nearly 11% to $75.69 in the fourth quarter. Sales per square foot jumped 24% to $528.01.

The company declined to provide an outlook, however, saying it does not know how long the global health crisis will last and what that will mean for consumer spending.

—Melissa Repko

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