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European Stocks Respond to Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Approval in UK

According to current data, the AstraZeneca PLC stock (LON: AZN) recorded about a 1.3% gain soon after the approval was finalized on top of the previous 3.3% gain.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has finally been approved for use by the UK, and just as the reaction of the European stocks when the news of the near approval was made, the prices have proceeded to record a more positive gain a few hours after being announced.

According to current data, AstraZeneca Plc (LON: AZN) stock recorded about a 1.3% gain soon after the approval was finalized on top of the previous 3.3% gain. Unfortunately, the thin volume of some of these shares during the holidays forced the news to have less impact on their gains with the Spanish and French stocks falling by 0.1%. Also, Liberbank SA (BME: LBK) slipped by 3.5%, and Unicaja Banco SA (BME: UNI) reported a more than 2% gain. 

Britain is currently struggling with the highly contagious variant of the virus of which the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is said to provide great protection. According to reports, 100 million doses were ordered, and the authorization was made for two doses regime expected to be available for emergency use. This means 50 million of the UK population can benefit from the doses. With the addition of the other approved vaccines, the population can be well vaccinated against the pandemic. 

On Tuesday, England recorded its worst daily Covid-19 cases of 53,135 since the mass testing began. This has forced the authorities to plan a tough tier four restriction on the people. The impact has been massive with Monday’s football match between Manchester City and Everton suspended for a high Covid-19 case within the Manchester City squad. 

According to the Britain Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, the successful development of the vaccine is a victory for British science, and they will vaccinate as many people as possible to put the virus under control. Starting from next week, the vaccination centers will invite people to move for their vaccinations. 

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has an edge over the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine also approved for use by the UK. The Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) vaccine can survive under a temperature of -70C making it difficult to be stored and distributed. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on the other hand can survive in normal fridge temperature. Also, this means a lot concerning the fact that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has to be delivered from Belgium while the Oxford-AstraZeneca is a British made vaccine. 

According to Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, the vaccines are an indication that the fight against the deadly virus has been advanced, and 2021 is a year of hope and recovery. Currently, over 600,000 people have been vaccinated in the UK with the Pfizer -BioNTech and also, 2 million patients as expected to get the vaccine every week. Those whose priority would be given to have been defined. People above 80 years, residents of care homes, and care workers will be given priority. Then, people above 50s and younger adults will be considered. According to a report, this should be over 25 million people. 

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Excellent John K. Kumi is a cryptocurrency and fintech enthusiast, operations manager of a fintech platform, writer, researcher, and a huge fan of creative writing. With an Economics background, he finds much interest in the invisible factors that causes price change in anything measured with valuation. He has been in the crypto/blockchain space in the last five (5) years. He mostly watches football highlights and movies in his free time.

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