[The Epoch Times, February 15, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Zhou Yun compiled and reported) As the COVID-19 epidemic sweeping the world gradually slowed down due to the Omicron variant, the new cases in various countries dropped rapidly after reaching a peak. Shares of vaccine makers such as Moderna and Pfizer also fell sharply on Monday.
Moderna tumbled $18.85, or 11.68%, to close at $142.47 on Monday. It fell as much as 12% in afternoon trading, the largest intraday drop in the S&P 500. Pfizer fell nearly 2%, while its vaccine partner BioNTech tumbled more than 9%. Novavax tumbled more than 11 percent, while Johnson & Johnson fell more than 1 percent.
White House chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci told the Financial Times last week that the US was emerging from a “full-blown Covid-19 pandemic”.
The U.S. reported an average of about 175,000 new Covid cases a day as of Sunday (Feb. 13), down 42% from the past week and well below the 7 on Jan. 15, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The peak of the Omicron epidemic, with an average daily increase of more than 800,000 cases.
While Moderna has also started clinical trials of a vaccine booster for the Omicron variant, its shares are likely to fall further as demand for the vaccine falls as the Covid vaccine is the company’s only commercial product.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 64% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and one dose of the J&J vaccine. Although the United States is still advancing vaccination work, the rate of increase in the national vaccination rate has slowed down a lot compared to the early days of the epidemic.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday delayed Pfizer’s plan to authorize a Covid vaccine for children under 5. The FDA initially planned to approve the first two doses of the vaccine as early as this month (the vaccine is ultimately expected to have three doses). However, Pfizer and the FDA said they now plan to wait until the third dose data comes out in April before reviewing.
Pfizer and BioNTech are also developing a Covid-19 vaccine against the Omicron variant. Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla has said the Oomicron vaccine will be ready by March, but it is unclear whether a new vaccine will be needed if new cases continue to decline.
Novavax’s vaccine has not yet been authorized by the FDA. If the public health situation continues to improve, U.S. demand for Novavax’s vaccine after regulatory approval is unknown.
Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel sold 19,000 shares last week for a total of $2.9 million and deleted his Twitter account, which he had not used for two years. Bancel’s move raised questions on social media platforms. Bancel is selling the same number (19,000) of Moderna shares each week, according to securities trading filings. ◇#
Responsible editor: Ye Ziwei