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Our briefing for Monday, February 14, 2022:
Feb 14, 2022 3:52:42 PM
- The United States’ coronavirus vaccine for children under five has been put on hold for at least another two months, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided that it needed more information. At the FDA’s request, Pfizer submitted the data earlier this month, with a decision expected around next week and the rollout starting as early as February 21. The FDA was initially concerned about the Omicron wave and wanting to make a decision right away, but on Friday the agency said they needed more data before moving forward after reviewing new trial information. Parents should be reassured that the agency is taking the time to meet high review standards, the FDA said.
- In Canada, the province of Alberta has scrapped masks for students in schools, after nearly two years of having the rules in place. Children under 12 also don’t have to wear masks at all in any setting. School boards don’t have the power to override the directive, the provincial government has said. Meanwhile in Quebec, gyms and spas can now reopen and sports and recreation activities can resume. This phase of the government’s reopening plan came into effect over the weekend when limits on indoor gatherings were removed and restaurants were allowed to seat a maximum of 10 people at one table.
- In the United Kingdom, the Treasury is pushing for an end to most free Covid-19 testing in a bid to save billions of dollars. Under the new plans, most free PCR testing would end by March, with the exceptions being people who are at high-risk of developing serious illness and people in hospitals. Lateral flow tests would still be distributed for free to those with symptoms, while those without symptoms would be advised not to test at all. The Guardian reports that the Treasury is pushing for the change, but the U.K. Health and Security Agency wants to keep the existing testing procedures in place until at least April 1.
- In Brazil, vaccination uptake has slowed, and some officials say it could be due to disinformation campaigns where the country’s leadership was involved. Despite more than 86% of the Brazilian population being fully vaccinated, vaccination rates in younger populations are very low, along with booster rates. So far only 23% of Brazilians ages 12 and older have gotten their booster shots, compared with 94% who have had at least one dose. Only 10% of children ages five to 11 have gotten the vaccine, despite being eligible to do so from January 17. President Jair Bolsonaro, who is unvaccinated himself, has been widely criticized for spreading false information around vaccines and for downplaying the seriousness of the virus.
- South Korea’s parliament approved plans to allow for special time for Covid-19 patients to vote in the country’s upcoming presidential election. According to the legislation, voters diagnosed with Covid-19 or those in quarantine will be allowed to visit the polling stations and cast ballots after the regular voting closes at 6PM. The move comes as the country struggles with an Omicron wave, with health authorities warning that the country could see up to 170,000 new daily cases by late February. In light of the recent surge, the country also announced that they will start administering fourth doses of Covid-19 vaccines to high-risk groups.
- New Zealand’s prime minister denounced protesters who oppose coronavirus vaccine mandates as they gathered in the thousands over the weekend. Police arrested 122 people on Thursday, appearing to take a tougher stance toward the convoy of demonstrators. "I very clearly have a view on the protesters and the way that they've conducted their protest because it has moved beyond sharing a view to intimidation and harassment of the people around central Wellington," she told reporters. "That cannot be tolerated." The protesters oppose vaccine mandates and were inspired by similar protests in Canada. Despite the arrests, dozens of tents remain on the Parliament’s grounds.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
'The pandemic was a litmus test': Why Canadian firms are seeing an uptick in shareholder activism
Brief: Baker Steel Capital Managers LLP, a large resource investment fund based in London, boosted its stake in Canadian miner Iamgold Corp. by nearly 40 per cent in 2021, reasoning that there was value to be unlocked in the gold miner with operations in Canada and Africa. So it came as a shock to Mark Burridge, chief executive and managing partner of Baker Steel, when news broke last month that Iamgold’s chief executive, Gordon Stothart, was leaving abruptly after less than two years in the top job. “When the announcement came with the CEO leaving, yeah, we got a little bit uncomfortable,” Burridge said in a recent interview. “We’re not the guys who build the big position just to then, you know, knock on their door and say, ‘Hey, you know, we’re the big shareholders, you need to do what we say.’ That’s not our style at all.” But with a 2.8 per cent stake in hand as of the end of 2021, they felt they had to do something, so they contacted management and the board with suggestions on how to turn the company around. They weren’t alone.
Here’s What the Pandemic Has in Store for the World Next
Brief: As a virus-weary world limps through the third year of the outbreak, experts are sending out a warning signal: Don’t expect omicron to be the last variant we have to contend with — and don’t let your guard down yet. In the midst of a vast wave of milder infections, countries around the world are dialing back restrictions and softening their messaging. Many people are starting to assume they’ve had their run-in with Covid-19 and that the pandemic is tailing off. That’s not necessarily the case. The crisis isn’t over until it’s over everywhere. The effects will continue to reverberate through wealthier nations — disrupting supply chains, travel plans and health care — as the coronavirus largely dogs under-vaccinated developing countries over the coming months. Before any of that, the world has to get past the current wave. Omicron may appear to cause less severe disease than previous strains, but it is wildly infectious, pushing new case counts to once unimaginable records.
Investors Unwind Speculative Bets as Pandemic Fears Fade
Brief: The first year of the Covid-19 pandemic fueled a frenzy for biotechnology stocks. Now, with vaccines in millions of arms and the omicron variant on the wane, there are signs investors are ready to move on. After cresting at nearly $5 billion a month in early 2020, inflows into health-care funds have slowed to a more modest $800 million a month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. While that suggests that a healthy appetite for the shares of vaccine makers and other drug companies remains, the excitement — and fear — stoked by the early days of the pandemic has subsided. What's more, those who embraced the shares of riskier drugmakers have taken their lumps of late. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, the most widely watched gauge of the sector's performance, has fallen 25% since hitting a 52-week high on Aug. 9. The SPDR S&P Biotech, or XBI, an exchange-traded fund that specialists use to track the industry’s performance, has plummeted 44% over the past year. Over the same span, the broader market has been climbing, with the S&P 500 up 13%.
Private Companies Held Their Own in January’s Rocky Markets (And Not Just for the Obvious Reasons)
Brief: January was the worst month for public stocks since March 2020 as investors wrestled with inflation fears. In contrast, the value of private companies, by a number of measures, held far steadier last month. The comparison is an important one, given that more companies are choosing to stay private longer — and a record number of them reached the $1 billion “unicorn” valuation mark last year. Of course, by definition, private companies are less volatile. They don’t trade in the same way as public securities on exchanges where their prices fluctuate in real-time. Instead, committees or outside firms calculate private company valuations based on the performance of public peers and other metrics on a quarterly basis. Valuations can also be plucked from a company’s most recent funding rounds. Many experts argue private companies are just as volatile as public stocks, but the risk is hidden from view.
JPMorgan Removes Mask Mandate for Vaccinated U.S. Workers
Brief: JPMorgan Chase & Co. said fully vaccinated staff no longer need to wear masks anywhere in its U.S. buildings, amid an easing up in Covid-19 cases that’s paved the way for Wall Street staff to return to offices. The biggest U.S. bank said in a memo to employees that masks are now “completely voluntary” unless there are more stringent local restrictions in place. Unvaccinated staff or those that have chosen not to disclose their status will need to wear a mask, apart from when they’re at workspaces or eating and drinking. “With Omicron cases declining in many U.S. locations, and expected to continue to decline, vaccine boosters and treatments more readily available, and a large percentage of our workforce vaccinated, we are continuing to make adjustments to some of these safeguards,” the bank said in the memo.
