Now’s a good time to look beyond COVID-19

Article Excerpt

Despite the renewed growth in new COVID-19 cases worldwide, investor sentiment has perked up over the past couple of weeks as several pharmaceutical companies announced promising vaccine testing results. If all goes according to plan, the first approved vaccines could be made available to high-risk groups and healthcare workers as early as the end of this year, but more generally in the first half of 2021. In the late summer, vaccines could be available globally, suggesting a possible end to the pandemic by the end of 2021. This will not be without its challenges: immunizing most of the world’s population will be very difficult logistically. Some people may not want to receive the vaccine even if it is available. In addition, the vaccines may not provide immunity over a long time. Nevertheless, under the positive scenario, pent-up demand will be released as consumers and businesses start to sense that the end of the pandemic is in sight. U.S. GDP is now forecast to grow by…