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Major equity markets rose in response Monday, taking advantage of a boom triggered by the Pfizer news a week ago.
A laboratory technician sorts blood samples inside a laboratory for a COVID-19 vaccine study at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida on August 13, 2020. Image: AFP.
WASHINGTON – Global hopes of overcoming the coronavirus pandemic rose Monday after a second vaccine was found to be nearly 95% effective in one trial, bringing much-needed optimism to a world facing growing infections and exhausting new restrictions.
The news from the American biotech firm Moderna comes after similar results were announced last week for a candidate vaccine developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Major equity markets rose in response Monday, taking advantage of a boom triggered by the Pfizer news a week ago.
Moderna, the results of which are derived from a clinical trial of more than 30,000 participants, expects to have approximately 20 million doses ready to ship to the US by the end of the year.
However, with the widespread availability of any vaccine still a long way off, governments around the world are cracking down on unpopular but life-saving restrictions on free movement, meetings and businesses.
Globally, infections have exceeded 54 million with more than 1.3 million deaths, and experts warn there are still difficult and dangerous months ahead.
“A vaccine alone will not end the pandemic,” warned the director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The supply will initially be limited to healthcare workers and other vulnerable populations, which could be of great help to hospital systems, but “will still leave the virus with a lot of room to move,” he said.
ISOLATION OF THE BRITISH PM
In worst-hit Europe, sidewalks have returned, often in the face of protests, from Greece to Britain, where Prime Minister and Covid-19 survivor Johnson isolated himself as a precaution on Monday after coming into contact with a parliamentarian who later tested positive for the virus.
Johnson said he would lead the virus response from Downing Street despite the fact that “I had the disease and am full of antibodies” after being hospitalized in April.
Sweden, which has drawn attention for a softer approach to fighting the virus, decided on Monday to ban gatherings of more than eight people for the first time.
“It’s going to get worse. Do your duty and take responsibility for stopping the spread of the virus,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said.
And in Germany, which began a new round of closures earlier this month, Chancellor Angela Merkel was pushing for tougher measures, such as masks in all schools and smaller classes.
Outside of work or school, person-to-person contact should also be “restricted to those from another fixed home,” according to a proposal from Merkel’s office that will be presented to regional leaders.
While new cases have stalled in Germany, the daily numbers, officials say, are still too high.
REELING US
Infections in the United States, the world’s worst-affected nation, show no signs of abating after a million new cases in less than a week pushed the total number to more than 11 million.
The spikes have prompted new restrictions in several states, while experts are warning families about big gatherings for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
A stay-at-home advisory would go into effect Monday in the nation’s third-largest city, Chicago, while New York, the epicenter of the spring outbreak in the United States, is also trying to flatten a second curve.
President Donald Trump has been blamed for further complicating efforts by refusing to budge and cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.
Responding to news about the Moderna vaccine on Twitter, Biden hailed the breakthrough as hopeful, but called for “social distancing and mask wearing” to continue in the meantime.
Trump, on the other hand, tried to take credit for the advance.
“Please remember that these great discoveries, which will end the plague of China, were made under my supervision!” Trump wrote.
AUSTRALIAN CLUSTER
Concern about a resurgence also persists in parts of the world that have largely controlled the number of cases.
Adelaide of Australia, which had not seen a significant outbreak in seven months, reported that a new cluster of 17 cases was linked to a hotel used to quarantine travelers returning from abroad.
Authorities removed a list of restrictions and suspended international flights to Adelaide.
In Hong Kong, the government further tightened restrictions starting Monday on the number of people in bars and restaurants to prevent a surge.
And Algeria, facing its own surge in infections, announced new restrictions on Sunday closing sports and cultural centers as well as beaches.
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