Why Novavax Stock Was So Healthy on Monday

The recent surge in COVID-19 data has prompted investors to once again turn their attention towards stocks related to the virus. This, in addition to a concerted effort to create an upgraded vaccine and distribute it to a large portion of the American population, has significantly boosted the value of various stocks involved in combating the illness.

Novavax (NVAX 1.32%) was one of the companies that experienced a notable increase in stock price, closing the day with a nearly 4% gain. This performance surpassed the 0.7% rise of the S&P 500 index on the same day.

On Friday, towards the end of the afternoon, President Joe Biden announced that he has officially asked Congress to allocate more financial resources for the development of fresh COVID vaccines. He also suggested, with some uncertainty, that once these new doses are ready, it would be advisable for all Americans to receive them.

Viruses have a natural tendency to undergo genetic changes throughout their existence in response to changing circumstances, and the COVID virus is not an exception to this rule. Following the onset of the pandemic, manufacturers of vaccines have developed updated versions of their shots to provide protection against infections caused by novel variants, such as the recent omicron strain.

Novavax is one of the companies presently working on producing new vaccinations to aid in the battle against the recent increase in COVID instances. The Nuvaxovid vaccine created by this company is one of the three vaccines that have received either approval or emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The other two vaccines are Comirnaty from Pfizer and BioNTech, and Spikevax from Moderna.

As COVID continues to pose a danger, the level of severity of the ongoing surge is yet to be determined. In the final week of July, around 9,000 individuals were admitted to hospitals due to COVID. Although this marked a 12% rise compared to the previous week, it is significantly lower than the approximately 44,000 admissions per week observed just a few months ago in January.

Eric Volkman does not hold any position in the stocks that have been mentioned. The Motley Fool, an investment website, also does not have any position in those stocks. In order to maintain transparency, The Motley Fool follows a disclosure policy.