Advertisement
Canada markets open in 4 hours 11 minutes
  • S&P/TSX

    22,107.08
    +194.56 (+0.89%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,248.49
    +44.91 (+0.86%)
     
  • DOW

    39,760.08
    +477.75 (+1.22%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7347
    -0.0025 (-0.34%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    81.61
    +0.26 (+0.32%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    96,230.85
    +1,307.34 (+1.38%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,213.20
    +0.50 (+0.02%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,114.35
    +44.19 (+2.13%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.1960
    0.0000 (0.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ futures

    18,489.25
    -14.50 (-0.08%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    12.96
    +0.18 (+1.41%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,954.19
    +22.21 (+0.28%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6814
    +0.0009 (+0.13%)
     

EU says J&J vaccine benefits outweigh risks, Pfizer finds fake COVID-19 shots

European regulators find a possible blood clot link with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but say its benefits outweigh the risks. Meanwhile, Pfizer identifies fake COVID-19 shots abroad as criminals exploit vaccine demand. Anjalee Khemlani breaks down the latest on the vaccine front.

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: All right, welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live on this Wednesday morning. Another day, another update on the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, which right now is pretty much paused on being distributed around the globe. EU regulators weighing in today. Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani joins us with the latest on this ongoing story. Anjalee?

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: That's right, Myles. So we found out yesterday that the European Medicines Agency re-allowed, basically, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in European countries, un-pausing the shipments that were due there, and will start that rollout there. Meanwhile, we're still waiting to hear word from the US regulators on Friday on what will happen. It's largely likely to be on pause and continue to allow vaccinations.

ADVERTISEMENT

We know that there have been concerns of those very rare blood clots, but it appears that there is still more studying needed to be done to understand whether or not it is just associated or caused by the vaccines. So health experts are still waiting to hear more about that, but still good news there. But yet another pause hitting Johnson & Johnson, the issue over at the Emergent BioSolutions company who was supposed to be producing these Johnson & Johnson vaccines not yet authorized for use. So I just want to emphasize that part, that it is not yet ready for use here in the US, or anywhere really.

But we did hear that the FDA has finally released the report on their inspection of the facility. We know that production had been paused after concerns of cross-contamination. And the FDA found a range of issues, from personnel not being properly trained, mishandling and not proper disposal of equipment-- of waste and equipment, the size of the facility being too small for proper cleaning. So lots of concerns about, really, the cleanliness and the size of operations there. And so it does remain to be seen just how long this delay in production is going to affect Johnson & Johnson.

JULIE HYMAN: And Anjalee, meanwhile, there are reports emerging-- and Pfizer has confirmed-- that there are fake doses out there. Where are they? How many of them are there? How concerned do people need to be about this?

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: That's correct. So we got confirmation that Poland and Mexico have seen reports of a fake vaccines that have been given to individuals in the area, reports of up to 80, I believe, in Mexico. And that's really concerning. The company has said that they have been on the lookout for this, knowing that they are in a very internet-friendly environment, and e-commerce is so big.

A quote from them, a statement from them saying specifically that they have a team of ex-law enforcement and science specialists who are tracking this every day, have their eyes on this. And they're working with governments and law enforcement to ensure that if they get any reports of this, that they do follow up. So that's why we do know about these in Mexico and Poland. They have not confirmed any additional investigations, but do say that they are constantly on the lookout and will be investigating them as needed.

And a note, of course, that no vaccines are available online. If you do find one in a clinic, do make sure that it is federally approved. Back to you guys.

MYLES UDLAND: All right. Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani with the latest on the fight against COVID-19.