COVID 19 vaccine makers are working to develop boosters that include the ability to fight the new Omicron variant. Epidemiologists and President Biden are urging Americans not to wait to get their shots.
Suzanne Judd is an epidemiologist at the Birmingham School of Public Health University of Alabama. She was unambiguous when asked if people should wait for Omicron-fighting shots:
She told Yahoo Finance Live that she was not sure if it was true. Delta is the number one concern in the United States. Omicron is not even here yet. Biden said Monday when he spoke about the threat of the Omicron variant, and said vaccines and boosters provide the best protection.
The spread of the Delta variant in the US has increased by 3% over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times analysis of public health data. The state of Michigan, the Midwest and Northeast are seeing an increase.
We continue to see these waves in the U.S., where one region has a very high load and then spreads to another region, Judd said. That is one of the reasons we don't stamp it out. Judd, like other public health experts, cautioned that it's too early to know how severe it may be, either in terms of ease of spread or severity of illness.
There is a good reason to buy a basket of biotech stocks because of the potential continued demand for boosters.
Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at iCapital Network, said a lot of companies that are developing COVID vaccines and COVID treatments may benefit from an investment market larger than people have penciled in. She recommends investors look at the iShares Biotechnology ETF IBB Also, is this only a 2022 story of boosters? It may not be the case if we end up with an annual booster shot. She said that we don't know yet, but we can't rule it out.
Julie Hyman is the co-anchor of Yahoo Finance Live, weekdays 9 am -- 11 am ET.