NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global stock benchmarks and oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday after drugmaker Moderna warned that existing vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the new coronavirus variant, spurring investors to pile into safe-haven assets such as government bonds and the yen.
“There is no world, I think, where (the effectiveness) is the same level,” Moderna’s chief executive, Stephane Bancel, told the Financial Times in an interview, comparing the effectiveness against the new Omicron variant to prior variants.
“I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to … are like ‘this is not going to be good,'” Bancel said.
