The two go hand-in-hand.
The idea of a vaccine that could prevent COVID-19 and put a halt to the coronavirus pandemic is the elixir that leery travelers have been looking for, and proof of that came in the numbers churned out by the stock market today.
Upon the announcement that Pfizer and BioNTech have produced a vaccine they say is 90 percent effective after Phase 3 trials, the Dow Jones shot up to record highs, gaining more than 1,256 points an hour before closing bell buoyed by travel stocks.
"Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine's ability to prevent COVID-19," Pfizer CEO and Chairman Dr. Albert Bourla said in a statement.
"We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. With today's news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis."
According to Yahoo Finance, Pfizer plans to apply for emergency use authorization of the vaccine at the end of this month, fueling hopes that people will venture out to theaters and entertainment venues, and start traveling again.
As of 3:03 p.m. EST, travel stocks were still through the roof. -
- American Airlines was up 16.84 percent on the day.
- United Airlines was up 19.75 percent
- Delta was up 17.6 percent
- Southwest was up 11.9 percent
- JetBlue was up 23.08 percent
- Royal Caribbean was sailing, up 28.62 percent
- Carnival was truly cruising, up a whopping 35.6 percent
- Norwegian was up 26.66 percent
- Marriott International Hotels was up 14.47 percent
- Hyatt was up 20.62 percent
- InterContinential Hotels was up 11.38 percent
"With the vaccine news today, households and firms are going to plan ahead, for example by booking travel, vacation, and [capital expenditures]," noted Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management.
With Pfizer aiming to have over 1 billion doses ready by next year, "the implication is that we will immediately begin to see the positive effects on employment, GDP, and earnings, even before the vaccine is available to the public," Slok added.
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