Covid-19 vaccines are the big talk of today. Just minutes ago, Moderna announced that with a final review of its clinical trials putting its vaccine at 94% effectiveness, it will submit its paperwork for emergency approval today. The company will seek approval from the FDA in the United States and the European Medicines Agency in the EU. Its formal US review will start in mid-December, while the precise date for the European approval process is unknown.
Pfizer, whose vaccine is quite similar and has a success rate of about 95% already submitted its paperwork and so its schedule is about one week ahead of Moderna’s. However, many experts favor the Moderna solution because it does not require the extreme storage conditions that the Pfizer vaccine needs. Thus, the Moderna vaccine will be easier to supply and distribute.
There are hopes that these two vaccines, perhaps even AstraZeneca’s, will get approved by the end of 2020, so they mass vaccination can begin next year.
As for the current state of the pandemic, the total number of cases has surpassed 63 million worldwide. The United States has over 13.7 million, having added close to 140,000 new cases yesterday.
In Europe, the lockdowns in France, Germany, and Italy seem to be working, as the numbers of new cases per day are dropping slowly but steadily.
In other non-Covid-related news, today is the beginning of an important OPEC summit. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will have to decide whether to stick to its original plan of bumping up production levels come January, or negotiate an agreement to stick to the current lower output levels for a couple more months.
A prolonged supply cut appears necessary due to the second wave of the pandemic depressing the demand for oil. Nevertheless, several OPEC+ members seem eager to take advantage of the higher prices of oil and might resist a new agreement to limit output levels.
The US stock indices today are all on the downside after an underwhelming Black Friday experience. According to preliminary data, Americans shopped half as much this year compared to the last holiday season due to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, many investors are settling their open positions, taking profits from the recent climb of stock indices, which is contributing to the weakening observed today.
