Shares of healthcare companies fell as traders rotated into sectors more tied to the economy's growth prospects.
More than one million new Covid-19 infections were reported in the U.S., a sign of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant that public-health experts said is only partially captured by official data. The U.S. reported a record 1.08 million Covid-19 infections on Monday as most states worked to clear backlogs after pausing during the New Year's holiday. The reports pushed the seven-day average of daily reported infections to 480,273, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. That level is nearly double the peak reached at the height of last winter's case surge.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that many children with weakened immune systems get a booster from Pfizer and BioNTech four weeks after their second shot. Separately, early data from Israel suggests a fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine will provide safe and effective protection against infection and severe illness for those with waning immunity.
There was a fivefold increase in antibodies of individuals one week after they got their fourth shot, according to data from Israel's Sheba Medical Center. Prices are going up for some of the cheapest and most popular at-home Covid-19 test kits in the U.S. Walmart and Kroger are raising their prices for BinaxNOW at-home rapid tests, after the expiration of a deal with the White House to sell the test kits at cost for $14.
Late Monday, a federal jury convicted Elizabeth Holmes, the startup founder who claimed to revolutionize blood testing, on four of 11 charges that she conducted a yearslong fraud scheme against investors while running Theranos, which ended up as one of Silicon Valley's most notorious implosions.
Write to Amy Pessetto at amy.pessetto@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-04-22 1710ET
