What happened
A potential upswing of COVID was the impetus behind a blast of interest in Novavax(NASDAQ: NVAX) stock on Tuesday.
That morning, it was reported by various media outlets that first lady Jill Biden had tested positive for Covid the previous day. Novavax is one of three companies with a vaccine green-lighted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), so it was hardly surprising when its share price zoomed more than 10% higher on the news.
So what
The White House officially announced the development that morning, adding that the first lady was experiencing "mild symptoms," and that the president had tested negative.
The news came amid rising concerns that COVID is resurging, powered by recent variants of the coronavirus. While hospitalizations and fatalities remain well under the numbers in the thick of the pandemic, they are on the rise, hence the worries.
In the U.S., Novavax is one of the armies on the front line in the fight against the disease. Its Nuvaxovid is one of only three vaccines that's currently either approved or authorized for emergency use by the FDA. The other two are Moderna's Spikevax, and Comirnaty, developed by Pfizer and Germany-based partner BioNTech.
Now what
While we are still some distance away from the return of conditions at the height of the pandemic, this recent rise in COVID cases is absolutely worth monitoring. If it continues or even starts to accelerate to any degree, look for the country's health authorities to start loading up on jabs such as Novavax's. We might be in for a long battle with this persistent disease.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends BioNTech and Moderna. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.