There is positive news about a COVID-19 vaccine. ASX shares are expected to rocket today.
COVID-19 vaccine
Global media are reporting that a prospective vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech can prevent over 90% of people from getting COVID-19 according to a preliminary analysis.
The vaccine trial has been tested on 43,500 people across six countries. Thankfully, no safety concerns have been raised in the trial.
This isn’t the end of the matter, it’s just a milestone, there are still different stages to go through. However, the companies involved plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.
The ‘90% effective’ figure is based on the first 94 volunteers to develop COVID-19, so the effectiveness may change as more people and results are analysed. According to Pfizer and BioNTech, there will be enough data later this month to take the vaccine to regulators.
Even AstraZeneca, one of the other global healthcare giants trying to develop a vaccine said that the Pfizer data is ‘incredibly promising’.
There are still several questions to be answered. Does it give long-term immunity? How will so many vaccines be produced and distributed (as this vaccine apparently needs to be stored in very cold temperatures – minus 80C).
ASX shares to soar
The ASX 200 could soar over 2%, perhaps as much as 3%, when the markets open. There was a strong overnight reaction to the news.
Some of the sectors that have been mostly heavily affected soared higher. The American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ: AAL) share price rose 15.2%, the Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) share price grew almost 12% and the Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) share price went up 12.7%.
So it will be interesting watching the various sectors on the ASX. Some of the businesses that could be likely to surge higher may be Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD), Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB), Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and perhaps even some property trusts like Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) and DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS).
Personally, if I were going to buy into this frenzy, I’d only buy into the ASX growth shares I think have good long term potential, but would benefit from the indirect effects of a vaccine like A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M), EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) and Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR).
