Vaccine Stocks Sink as Biden Says Pandemic Is Over

Moderna, Pfizer , and other vaccine stocks fell sharply on Monday after President Joe Biden referred to the pandemic as history.

In a wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday, the president said the pandemic is over, although a lot of work continues to be done to deal with Covid-19. “We still have a problem with COVID…but the pandemic is over,” he said. “If you notice, no one’s wearing masks.”

Moderna ’s (ticker: MRNA) stock dropped 9.3% to $124.99 by midday on Monday, reaching its lowest point in roughly three months. Other vaccine stocks like Pfizer (PFE) and Novavax (NVAX) also fell in response, recording respective losses of 1.7% and 8%.

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Biden’s remarks come a few days after health insurer Humana (HUM) said it no longer finds it necessary to factor the potential negative effects of Covid-19 into its full-year financial forecasts.

The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said last week that the world has never been in a better position to end Covid-19. “We can see the finish line…but now is the worst time to stop, ” he said in a news briefing in Geneva.

Still, public-health officials continue to warn about the possibilities of a new variant, the current incapability to block transmissions, and the threat of long Covid-19, which can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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The Food and Drug Administration has also approved updated boosters from Moderna and the Pfizer -BioNTech partnership designed to match both the currently circulating variants and the original version of the coronavirus.

As of Thursday, fewer than 70,000 coronavirus cases were being reported each day in the U.S., the lowest level seen since early May, according to the New York Times.