Rarely have two or three companies on their own managed to impact the markets so strongly. Over the past 3 weeks Pfizer, which has jumped by over 18% over the past month and Moderna which has skyrocketed by over 630% since the beginning of the year, have sharply improved market sentiment. Investors are less worried about rising Covid case numbers and lockdowns and are instead looking further ahead, to when the roll out of vaccines can put the coronavirus behind us and growth will return to the economy.
On November 20th Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) officially sought emergency use authorization for its vaccine from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – the final, vital step needed in order to roll out the vaccine first to emergency workers, and then to the general public early next year. The FDA approved it on December the 10th and vaccinations will begin in the upcoming days. Most recently Pfizer was also bolstered when the UK and Canada announced they had authorized the vaccine for emergency use and that the vaccine will become available within days.
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) sought emergency use authorisation on December 1st and the company said that if the FDA gives approval, it will be ready to roll out the vaccine for use as early as December 21st.
While Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has a 7-10 day lead over Moderna at the moment, Moderna has an advantage in that its vaccine only needs to be kept at normal refrigerated temperatures, while Pfizer’s must be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius. This means that Pfizer may have more difficulty storing and distributing its vaccine.
This vaccine news appears to be the game changer that investors have been waiting for. Once people are inoculated, the threat of future lockdowns and their associated economic slowdowns should disappear like a bad memory – at least this is what traders hope.
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