Material Drop News Today

Sales, it is giving tuesday. how you can give back this holiday season. this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. discouraging words tonight from the head of vaccine maker moderna, quoted as saying there could be a material drop in the effectiveness of current vaccines against the omicron variant. while late today pfizer filed for approval of booster shots for 16 and 17-year-olds, hoping to protect as many people as possible scientists are feverishly trying to understand th...

Monoclonal antibody treatment may not work as well on omicron as it does on other strains. >> weve started with very potent antibodies we have to look at how much the hit is, but more importantly we have to get ready for the next one. >> reporter: modernas ceo warned today he expects a material drop in existing vaccines protection against omicron. while late today, pfizer applied for the first emergency use authorization of covid boosters for 16 and 17-year-olds theres no timeline on when the fd...

As americans prepare for the holidays. >> i would not change any plans, but that doesnt mean you should be cavalier about it. >> reporter: stocks tumbled again. the dow dropping more than 650 points. >> the recent rise in covid-19 cases and the emergence of the omicron variant pose downside risks to the employment and economic activity and increased uncertainty for inflation. >> reporter: concerns are growing about the effectiveness of therapies and vaccines against the variant. regeneron says i...

Time to get vaccinated. we also know that vaccination helps protect you, your loved ones and your community from covid-19, and we fully anticipate this protection at least in part will be beneficial against omicron. >> meanwhile, here is some of that uncertainty i was talking about. fed chair jerome powell was on capitol hill today testifying about a heavy dose of economic uncertainty facing the country with omicron. modernas ceo talked to the financial times about vaccine uncertainty, predictin...

Welcome back. experts have been saying its going to take a few weeks and maybe even more than that until we know exactly how well our current covid vaccines will hold up against this new omicron variant. as we said at the top of the show, modernas ceo certainly didnt calm anyones nerves telling the financial times, quote, there is no world, i think, where the vaccine effectively is the same level. i think its going to be a material drop. i just dont know how much because we need to wait for the ...

Authorities sounded the alarm on november 24. it was already in europe as early as november 19th, and its now been found in at least 20 countries. that much we do know. as for what we dont know, namely whether vaccines will still protect us from this variant, there are head-snapping predictions from the ceos behind the pfizer and moderna vaccines. the head of biontech, a partner in the pfizer vaccine, tells reuters that current vaccines will still likely protect us from severe cases, even though...

The "financial times" in an interview that current vaccines are going to struggle with omicron. he said theres no world i think are where the effectiveness is the same level we had with the delta variant. he went on to say, "i think its going to be a material drop. i just dont know how much because we need to wait for the data. but all the scientists ive talked to are, like, this is not going to be good." a lot of people are reacting to that, sanjay. what do you think? >> first of all, again, we...