What happened
The stock market as a whole took another hit on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 index slumping by over 1%. Happily for Moderna (MRNA -0.34%) investors, this didn't drag down their company's stock, as it countered with a 1.4% rise. As ever, news about the company's widely administered coronavirus vaccine was the catalyst.
So what
That morning, Bloomberg reported that U.S. pharmacies are experiencing shortages of the latest version of Moderna's Spikevax vaccine, a bivalent booster aimed at blocking both the original and the omicron variants of the coronavirus.
This is due partially to a limited government supply, which has to be doled out around the country. CVS Health told the financial news agency that some of its pharmacies had already expended all of their available shots of the new booster.
Yet this is also due to demand that's too high to keep the jab in stock everywhere. Obviously this is a plus for Moderna, as Spikevax continues to enjoy a good reputation as an effective vaccine. Although some vaccine recipients "mix and match" jabs from different manufacturers, they tend to use boosters from the same maker. Spikevax is already in millions of American arms, so there remains much inherent demand.
Now what
That said, it's worth remembering that the coronavirus seems to be on the wane. According to the latest statistics on the pandemic compiled by The New York Times, the numbers of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to fall at double-digit rates across a 14-day period.
Therefore it's imperative for both current and would-be Moderna investors to track developments with the biotech company's pipeline, since Spikevax is so far its only commercialized product.
