Next Chapter in Covid-19 Era Underway
The next step in Covid-19 vaccinations was taken today, making it an historic time (hopefully) marking the beginning of the end of the pandemic era. What began as news reports out of China a year ago has exploded into a worldwide tragedy, with nearly 15 million reported cases in the U.S. alone, with more than 283K Americans having succumbed to the disease.
This morning in Great Britain, a 90-year-old grandmother was the first recipient of the Pfizer PFE-BioNTech BNTX vaccine, which was approved via fast-track status in the country. Here in the U.S. a briefing on that very vaccine announced it has met the prescribed success criteria, with no safety concerns which would keep it from the domestic marketplace. The drug displayed some efficacy even after a single dose, though treatment includes a second booster shot for full immunity.
There were some side effects, most notably flu-like symptoms. These would generally be considered on-par with other immunizations, such as the shingles vaccine, which was released earlier this year. Aside from sub-zero refrigeration requirements, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine looks to be first in line and among the highest efficacy rates possible for a vaccine treating a novel virus, which Covid-19 is.
Next Thursday, Moderna’s MRNA vaccine briefing gets its moment in the spotlight. Early details released by the company report a similar very high efficacy rate (>90%), with a similar makeup (mRNA) to the Pfizer drug. Should the hearing bring about similar results in terms of safety, we may be looking at a two-vaccine attack on Covid-19 here in the U.S. within the somewhat near term. This is obviously very good news for the market and for the economy as a whole.
To wit, both the S&P 500 and the small-cap Russell 2000 both set new all-time highs, +0.28% and 1.4%, respectively, on the day. Healthcare as an industry rose 0.73%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.5% Tuesday, while the Dow again scaled more than 100 points higher, +0.35% for regular-day trading.
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