Hello from North Carolina.
Will the Intel problem affect the Cardano protocol?
Not the protocol itself, but if you have your wallet (Daedalus) installed on a PC or Mac with an Intel or AMD processor you are at risk.
You could use a hardware wallet like Ledger Nano or Trezor to protect your coins.
There are patches out.
I suspect the vulnerabilities have been around a while and run their course hence the release of patches.
Thats my cynical side though.