Six months ago exactly – on 9 November last year – Pfizer unveiled interim data from trials of a vaccine candidate known as BNT162b2, developed in partnership with German firm BioNTech. The numbers were far better than expected: 90% efficacy in preventing Covid.
“Today is a great day for science and humanity,” declared Albert Bourla, the company’s chief executive, a judgment that clearly still stands half a year later. Even as the pandemic still rages – appallingly in India, Brazil and many other places – the arrival of effective vaccines has been a turning point in the crisis.
Stock markets had half-anticipated good news and were already recovering, but a sensational run has still followed. The S&P 500, the main US index, has risen 18% since Pfizer’s announcement, to achieve a record high. In the UK, the FTSE 100 index is up 15% at 7130. That is still 500 points short of its pre-pandemic level, but the FTSE 250 index, stuffed with more domestic-focused companies, has recovered all of its lost ground.
Another roaring twenties may not be on the cards, but investors…
