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The Biden administration said it wants to provide a “vaccine arsenal” for the world.
It will send at least 20 million doses of Covid vaccines to other countries in the coming weeks.
The U.S. government will share “at least” 20 million doses of BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines with the rest of the world from this vaccine arsenal by the end of June, President Biden said in a White House speech Monday.
This is on top of the 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine already committed to other countries.
The U.S. move to provide a vaccine arsenal makes sense. The latest official figures showed that 60% of Americans will have received at least one Covid-19 shot by Tuesday.
More Americans will be vaccinated, such as the 12- to 15-year old group for whom the vaccines were just authorized. But a large number of Americans will refuse to be vaccinated.
So instead of wasting the vaccines, it’s a good idea to send them where they are needed.
Vaccinations, administered around the globe, will be the only way to finally put this virus behind us.
The Big News
Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Blocks Indian Variant
The highest standard lab experiments on the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna vaccines suggest that they give immunity against a subtype of the SARS-CoV-2 variant tearing through India. “These vaccines are working,” says immunologist Mehul Suthar. But the research also hinted that this subtype — B.1.617.1 — is more resistant to antibodies than are other forms of the virus.
Vaccine Materials Shortage Coming?
The most senior Pfizer executive in the UK criticized the call to waive intellectual property for Covid-19 vaccines. He warned that it would lead to a global shortage of raw materials. Ben Osborn said a waiver was “not the answer . . . We would see a very rapid short-term impact. It could allow any organization to start procuring some of these basic raw materials across multiple countries.” He added this could mean that existing vaccine manufacturers would be unable to fulfill their obligations to deliver doses.
GSK – Medicago Vaccine’s Positive Results
GlaxoSmithKline and Medicago reported that their Covid-19 vaccine candidate spurred protective antibody levels 10 times higher than in patients who have recovered from the disease. This was the finding of interim trial results. The vaccine generated similar immune responses in all age groups with no serious safety events in the mid-stage trial. About 500 participants ages 18 to 88 received the shot. Late-stage trials for the plant-based vaccine started in March. The companies aim to recruit as many as 30,000 subjects.
T-Cell Test Probes for Long-Term Immunity
U.S. regulators have authorized a new type of SARS-CoV-2 test that relies on T cells (a type of long-lived immune cell). The test, developed by Adaptive Biotechnologies, is not meant to diagnose active infection. Its aim is to confirm whether someone has been exposed to the virus in the past. The T-cell test provides a complement to antibody testing. It can immediately be used to monitor how long the immunity from vaccines lasts.
The Pandemic and Biotech IPOs
The volume of IPOs for biotech companies remains on track to reach record highs in 2021. So far, 44 IPOs have raised more than $4.6 billion so far this year. This is up from 15 companies and $2.1 billion at the same time last year. Recently, however, the pace of 2021 IPO activity has slowed down; 12 companies launched IPOs in the second quarter versus 32 IPOs in the first quarter of 2021.
The Coronavirus Numbers
U.S. deaths from Covid-19 last week fell to their lowest in nearly 14 months. Here are the numbers from Wednesday at 8 a.m. from Johns Hopkins University:
- 164,308,019 Infected Worldwide
- 1,501,894,977 Vaccines Given Globally
- 3,406,607 Deaths
- 32,997,870 Infected in the U.S.
- 275,535,207 U.S. Vaccine Doses Administered
- 587,225 Deaths in the U.S.
What’s Next
Stocks sold off yesterday and futures indicate another bad day in store.
The reason remains inflation worries.
Wall Street is concerned that global growth, which is good enough to get more inflation, will cause central banks to remove their support. The Fed may be preparing to reduce its $120 billion a month of bond purchases as our economy recovers.
The danger is that markets start to view the Fed as behind the curve. Traders then fear a panicked reaction from the Fed that really upsets the market.
And bitcoin prices continue to be battered.
The price of bitcoin has dropped below $40,000 (to $38,500) for the first time since February. Bitcoin has now given back all the gains made since Tesla announced in early February that it had invested $1.5 billion into bitcoin.
The selloff came after news rolled in that China had intensified its efforts to suppress the surge in digital currency trading. China has banned financial institutions from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions. Authorities warned that digital currencies should not be used in financial markets or in the real economy as money.
Meanwhile, one American company could be on the verge of a major discovery. Click here ASAP for urgent details.
Yours in Health & Wealth,
Tony Daltorio