My best friend (also coincidentally named Ford), is a lobbyist for the health care industry, and he's passed along a bevy of helpful information that isn't insider information at all. He accurately predicted that the Pfizer and Moderna trials would be successful and also that it will be the end of summer by the time us common folk get the vaccine. He said that industries were supposed to be ramping up production of syringes, glass vials and vehicles for transport, but they are far behind where they should be. You have to remember they are trying to produce enough to distribute to 8 billion people around the world, AND the current vaccines require two doses. That's 16 billion doses. If they produce a million a day, you do the math on that. They also have to distribute in such fashion that the second dose is administered in 21 days or it loses effectiveness. Then there's the matter of storage; you have to be able to refrigerate all those doses AND it's not your standard refrigeration - in California there's only something like 8 facilities that have the ability to store it properly (one of them happens to be UC Davis, where my wife work, and yes, she has gotten both doses and other than a sore arm and being tired, no side effects - she got the Pfizer). They also haven't done ANY testing on anyone under age 17, so kids can't be inoculated until the testing is approved. The bottom line is you have to be patient.
There was supposed to be an agreement between the top researchers of the vaccines that if one had a viable formula that worked and was approved for distribution, the rest would switch over and produce the vaccine at their own facilities. That's not currently happening.
OK, now for the GOOD news: IF you have a little cash, you might be able to make a little money if you move quickly. My friend and I researched who makes glass vials, and of the top ten companies, 9 are privately held and only one is publicly traded, however, I don't think that's the way to go because everyone will be on to that and it has a glass ceiling, pardon the pun. There are other researchers working on approval. Astra-Zeneca got close, but their trials were only like 70%. Here's the pandemic breaker (so says my friend): Johnson & Johnson. For the past year, their stock has fluctuated around $140, but it has steadily risen to $162.77 as of close today in under 2 months. Their trial hasn't been approved yet, but it is testing better than Pfizer and Moderna AND it only requires a single dose AND no special handling or refrigeration. Once approved, it will be THE vaccine to end the pandemic. For prepressers like us, who can probably only afford to burn a grand or two, it amounts to a couple of shares... but it should be a hot ticket and a quick sell, possibly earning 5% in under a year's time which is better than a savings account or a money market account. Experts predict a high of $181, so that's your sell point. But if they split the stock, you could be in a solid investment in under a year's time.
