Weekend covid news
The market brushed aside a momentary covid panic last week but the episode put the pandemic back on the radar.
The good news is that even after a longer time period the vaccine remains highly effective against preventing severe disease. The bad news is that if developed countries begin gobbling up more MRNA doses for a third round, it will delay global efforts to get everyone vaccinated and that will be a drag on growth.
Another worrisome data point comes from Iceland. The island nation opened on June 26 with extremely high rates of vaccination.
Despite that, cases immediately began a sharp climb.
The good news is that there have been only 3 hospital admissions so far but the bad news is that curbs are already back in place. Pre-arrival testing requirements are required again along with mask mandates and capacity limits.
Iceland largely used the Johnson & Johnson vaccine along with Pfizer.