AstraZeneca awaits major boost from the roll-out of Oxford vaccine jab              

British prime minister Boris Johnson during a visit to view the vaccination programme at Chase Farm Hospital in north London, as he NHS is ramps up its vaccination programme.

Shares in AstraZeneca rose as the UK government led by Boris Johnson started to distribute the Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine shot in Britain and the North, but the shares of the British drug giant have still to benefit in a huge way from the programme.

Britain began vaccinating its population with the Oxford and AstraZeneca’s in a world first, racing to give protection to the elderly and vulnerable as a new surge of cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals and as Mr Johnson imposed new school closures.   

Germany too was poised to extend stricter lockdown measures beyond January 10 amid criticism over alleged failures in the government’s fledgling vaccination programme. Chancellor Angela Merkel is consulting with regional officials and health experts to decide on prolonging the restrictions, which include closing schools and non-essential stores. 

AstraZeneca shares gained 1.5% on the day, as other leading shares climbed across Europe on hopes for economic recovery this year, even as new Covid cases spiked.                        

Its shares have nonetheless struggled in the past year and are little changed from their level of a year ago. The British drug giant is valued at £98.47bn (€110bn).

Big winners

In terms of stock market value, the big winners among the successful vaccine producers continue to be Germany's BioNTech and Moderna of the US. BioNTech developed, with the American drug giant Pfizer, the vaccine that is being rolled out across the EU.

Despite its Frankfurt-listed shares falling 3% on Monday, BioNTech has more than doubled its value in the past year, to €17bn. 

Pfizer shares in the US have fared less well, with the stock having gained by less than 3% in the past year, albeit valuing the pharma giant at $204.6bn (€167.4bn). Its shares had traded at a 52-week high as recently as December 11.

Shares in rival vaccine firm Moderna climbed 8% on Monday to bring gains in the past 52 weeks to almost 500%, increasing its value to $41.3bn (€33.8bn ). The shares reached their all-time high on December 8.

As major economies eye the benefits of being first out of the pandemic, Britain is rushing to vaccinate its population faster than the US and the rest of Europe, though Russia and China have been inoculating their citizens for months. 

Additional reporting Reuters and Bloomberg