By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – Shares of vaccine-makers traded lower Thursday as the threat from omicron wanes and competition gets more intense.

Novavax stock (NASDAQ) declined 3.1% Pfizer (NYSE:), Moderna All three traded lower by 1.5 to 2%, including BioNTech (NASDAQ) and AstraZeneca ADRs (NASDAQ). AstraZeneca ADRs were down by just under 1 percent.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:), which is now a distant player in Covid management, was up 0.2%. Contribution of Covid-vaccine sales in the consumer giant’s overall revenue is negligible.

Omicron spread twice as fast than delta in two months. It was the most severe coronavirus strain to hit the planet since April and September. The virus reached 80 countries within a matter of hours. Nation after nation reported record levels of new cases. Last week, there were more than 90,000.

However, it didn’t reflect in increased hospitalizations and latest studies suggest it may not be as deadly as delta, leading to subdued sentiment for stocks of vaccine-makers.

To make matters worse, Pfizer and Merck have been approved by the USFDA as anti-Covid tablets. The stock pressure was increasing despite the fact that vaccines are no replacement for them. However, there were still some people who hoped to receive other types of medicine, such as anti-Covid pills, which have been approved by the USFDA. Merck (NYSE) fell 0.4% in the current session.

The negative sentiment towards these stocks was exacerbated by Novavax’s approval earlier in the week by both the WHO and European drug regulators. Novavax’s two-dose regimen for their vaccine is strong against Covid variants.