US states tightening lockdown measures, covid spread is out of control

It was a good news day on the vaccine front and US futures climbed 3% with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly touching an intraday record after Moderna Inc. said its vaccine had 94.5% efficacy in a preliminary analysis of a large, late-stage clinical trial.

The development has followed similar positive news last Monday from Pfizer on its own vaccine candidate which buoyed risky assets globally. 

However, the impact today was far less considering that the markets have priced in a foregone conclusion that, in time, the coronavirus will be under control and the global economy will be on the right track. 

On the other hand, the vaccine news does not counter the here and now where the coronavirus cases continue to surge across the US states.

Hospitals in some areas are stretched to capacity and many states are once again imposing additional limits on businesses and everyday life.

Some governors are closing sectors they had reopened after spring lockdowns and others are tightening their restrictions up, such as California Governor Newsom. 

Others, wary of an ailing economy, are letting businesses remain largely open but setting stricter capacity limits or mandating the wearing of masks in public who has today ordered much of the state into the most restrictive tier. 

However, the patchwork of approaches reflects the lack of a coherent federal policy to curb the pandemic, so there will be a major focus on the President-select Joe Biden when he takes the White House next year.

He faces a tough decision, unlike any other incoming president, has had to make, as to whether to back a short-term national lockdown to finally arrest a raging pandemic.

He was reluctant to comment today in a press interview as to what he plans to do specifically but he instead continues to be encouraging Americans to wear a mask.

To date, the virus has been tallied to have taken almost a quarter-million deaths in the US, with some 10.6 million confirmed infections.

Deaths have climbed to about 1,000 a day on average.

The University of Washington model is projecting nearly 439,000 dead by March 1.

The spread is out of control and new cases per day are soaring, shattering records over and over and reaching an all-time high last Thursday of over 153,000.