By
Tolu Ajiboye
December 13th, 2023
Although many people in America and other countries are still getting vaccinated, the rate has slowed down compared to what we had before.
The shares of major Covid vaccine makers, including Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA), Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE), and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX), fell as the omicron wave calms down in the US. There is now a reduced number of new cases of the omicron various across the USA, signaling that the pandemic is easing. As a result, Moderna fell over 12%, the biggest fall in the S&P 500 in the mid-day. Pfizer also declined more than 2%, while BioNTech plunged over 9%. In addition, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) tripped more than 1%, while Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) lost about 10%.
It appears that the statement the White House chef medical advisor made is actually coming to pass. Last week, chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told The Financial Times that the “full-blown pandemic phase of Covid-19” in the US is coming to an end.
Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed a seven-day average of about 175,000 Covid cases per day as of Sunday. This signifies that new cases of the omicron variant in the US dropped 42% over the previous week. As of the 15th of January, the US saw the pandemic high in reported cases, representing over 800,000 per day on average. Since the Covid vaccine is the only commercial product that Moderna has, the company may continue to decline amid slower demands.
Vaccine Makers Plunge Due to Slow Demand for Moderna, Pfizer, and BioNTech Vaccine
Around 64% of the US population is wholly vaccinated with two shots of either the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna’s or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Although many people in America and other countries are still getting vaccinated, the rate has slowed down compared to what we had before. When the vaccines were freshly presented to the public, many rushed to get vaccinated in the prevention of the coronavirus. However, there is now a slower national vaccination rate. The vaccination rate surged in December on news of fresh cases of the Omicron variant.
According to the latest data by CDC on the 8th of February, an average of 443,000 shots went out daily over the past week. This is a fall from the over 1.7 million shots that were administered daily in December. At the time, Americans were eager to get vaccinated with the Moderna shots, or the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine Also, there used to be about 3.5 million shots administered at the peak of the pandemic in April last year.
Pfizer and BioNTech are also working on producing a Covid vaccine to fight the omicron variant. Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s CEO said that the shot will be available by next month.
At the time of writing, Pfizer is down 0.20% in after-hours trading having declined 6.41% in the last five days. BioNTech is also down 0.02%in after hours, after losing 10.58% in the last five days. Additionally, Moderna is also at a loss of 0.79% in extended trading hours. As it stands, Moderna, Pfizer, and BioNTech are struggling, and the companies’ share may continue to fall as the pandemic eases.