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A growing body of evidence suggests why young children account for only a small percentage of Covid infections.
Their immune systems seem better equipped to fend off SARS-CoV-2 than those of adults.
In children, the immune system sees the virus. It mounts a really fast and effective immune response to Covid infections. This response shuts Covid infections down quickly. The virus does not even have a chance to replicate.
Why is the immune system of young children so good at stopping Covid infections?
Scientists aren’t 100% sure. But they do point to several factors . . .
- Children’s T cells are still “untrained.” So, they may have a greater capacity to respond to new viruses including Covid infections.
- Kids might have a strong innate immune response from birth. That raises the question, though, of why such reactions are not seen with other viruses that can cause severe disease in children.
- It could be thanks to the protection of antibodies to seasonal common-cold coronaviruses, which run rampant in children.
- Kids might receive a smaller dose of the virus when exposed to SARS-CoV-2. That’s because their noses contain fewer of the ACE2 receptors that the virus uses to gain access to our bodies
No matter the reason – children’s immune systems are better able to fight off Covid infections.
This should mean that – when community spread drops a bit – schools should be able to open again full-time.
The Big News
Another Covid Vaccine Getting Close
The German biotech firm CureVac (CVAC) has launched a final-stage, large-scale trial for its Covid-19 vaccine. The trial will involve 35,000 participants across Europe and Latin America. The company uses a similar mRNA platform to vaccines developed by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. Unlike Pfizer’s vaccine, CureVac’s vaccine remains stable for at least three months at standard refrigerator temperatures.
Vaccine Ads
Pfizer began shipping its vaccine across the country on Sunday. Meanwhile, the U.S. government is rolling out a $250 million plan to educate the public about the Covid vaccines. Public support is split: 60% of people said they were likely to get the shot, a recent Pew poll found. More than 20% were strongly opposed.
College Athletes and Covid
More than 6,600 college athletes, coaches and staff tested positive for the coronavirus. But that is likely the tip of the iceberg for Covid infections. Many schools are reluctant to make public their Covid data. This is especially true with their football programs. For many schools, football is the big moneymaker.
U.S. Buys More Moderna Vaccine
Moderna says the U.S. government has exercised an option to purchase an additional 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine. This brings the total committed order to 200 million doses. Moderna says 20 million doses will be delivered by the end of December.
Covid and Your Heart
Covid is mainly a respiratory disease, right? Not so fast. It also has marked effects on the heart. It can lead to myocarditis (inflammation of the heart), blood clots, death of heart cells, arrhythmias and acute or protracted heart failure (muscle dysfunction). These complications have occurred even in cases of covid infections with mild symptoms and in people who did not experience any symptoms.
The Coronavirus Numbers
Here are the numbers from Monday at 8 a.m. ET from Johns Hopkins University:
- 72,352,258 Infected Worldwide
- 1,614,290 Deaths
- 16,257,915 Infected in the U.S.
- 299,191 Deaths in the U.S.
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What’s Next
It’s a familiar stock market story today.
There is a lot of hope around fiscal stimulus from Congress. And vaccines are being rolled out nationwide. Some healthcare workers may be vaccinated as soon as today.
Vaccines will continue to support risk sentiment and provide support to the stock market. Vaccines allow investors to look past the current situation to a more normal 2021.
Looking even further ahead, vaccines may be key to a very bullish scenario. That is a replay of the “Roaring Twenties,” when both the economy and stock market boomed.
The Federal Reserve meets later this week. Its attention will focus on its emergency $120 billion monthly bond-buying program.
It’s expected that the Fed will anchor market expectations. It will emphasize the longevity of its asset purchases. It will make it clear to the markets that it’s in this for the long haul.
10-year Treasury yields have been rising in recent weeks, nearing the 1% level. So, I expect the Fed to switch its focus to longer-dated debt. This will better anchor interest rate expectations for a longer time period.
Meanwhile, a top Tesla engineer just QUIT . . . and is now creating a brand new EV battery. Go here to grab Pre-IPO shares of this new EV stock.
Yours in Health & Wealth,
Tony Daltorio