What happened
Shares of Moderna (MRNA +5.25%) were bouncing back by 3.6% as of 11:04 a.m. EDT on Tuesday after falling 6% on Monday. The rebound appears to be due to investors buying on the dip after digesting news that some top scientists are opposing booster doses for messenger RNA vaccines.
So what
There's a pretty good case to be made that yesterday's sell-off of vaccine stocks was overdone. For one thing, it remains to be seen what impact that opposition to boosters will have on upcoming U.S. government decisions.
Image source: Getty Images.
More importantly, though, the U.S. has already bought enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to provide boosters for all Americans. Even if boosters aren't given a green light, it won't have much financial impact (if any) on Moderna over the near term.
In addition, the group of scientists that contributed to a paper published in The Lancet on Monday acknowledged that boosters might be required if the efficacy of current vaccines declines. Moderna could still benefit if boosters are indeed needed over the longer term.
Now what
The Food and Drug Administration is convening an advisory panel on Friday to discuss booster doses. Moderna's share price could experience another swing, either up or down, based on what the panel recommends.
