The stocks had been facing a downturn, with a decline of over 20 percent this year due to falling sales of COVID treatments and vaccines.
The dominant strain in the US, known as Eris, the goddess of the underworld, is thought to be slightly better at evading immunity acquired from previous vaccines and infections. However, it isn’t expected to cause more severe illness.
Major vaccine makers, Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax, are optimistic that their vaccines originally designed to tackle a related omicron subvariant will also offer protection against Eris.
