Monkeypox stocks are rallying amid worries about a shortage of vaccines for the illness in the U.S. Additionally, in recent days, New York state, New York City and San Francisco have issued emergency orders related to monkeypox.
Several related names rallied in pre-market trading today and are still up since the market opened this morning. SIGA (NASDAQ:SIGA) is climbing 6%, GeoVax Labs (NASDAQ:GOVX) is soaring 50% and Virax Biolabs (NASDAQ:VRAX) is jumping 45%.
Monkeypox Stocks and Shortage Concerns
The U.S. has obtained 1.1 million doses of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, and 786,000 of those have been cleared by regulators. The only shot currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for preventing monkeypox, Jynneos, is produced by Denmark-based Bavarian Nordic (OTCMKTS:BVNRY). The jab was originally a smallpox vaccine, but it has been found to be 85% effective in protecting people from getting monkeypox.
The U.S. is slated to acquire about 2 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year, but 3.2 million shots are needed to protect those who are at risk of contracting the disease.
In the middle of last week, 4,600 cases of monkeypox had been identified in the U.S., and the number of cases is believed to be doubling every 7.6 days.
The U.S. has more than 100 million doses of a separate vaccine for smallpox, known as ACAM2000, which is made by Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS). But ACAM2000 has a higher risk of side effects than Jynneos, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to The Washington Post, “the virus has yet to be linked to a single confirmed U.S. death.”
On Saturday, New York City announced that monkeypox had become an emergency within its borders. A day earlier, New York state had also declared the illness an emergency, while San Francisco issued a similar announcement on Thursday.
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On the date of publication, Larry Ramer held no positions in any companies mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
