Tuesday's COVID-19 Update: White House Clarifies Vaccine Position And More

The U.S. government said it will have stockpiled 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of 2020, and they may include AstraZeneca plc's AZN vaccine or a competing product or products, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Vaccine Production Underway: As part of the Trump administration's "Operation Warp Speed," the federal government is collecting hundreds of millions of vaccine doses before clinical trials are even completed, Meadows said.

The government acknowledges the risks involved, including being in a position of shelving vaccines that fail in clinical trials, he said.

"We are actually starting the manufacturing in parallel to make sure we can deliver it as quick as we can to the American people."

The White House's vaccine strategy has "nothing to do" with the Nov. 3 presidential election, Meadows said. Whether or not a vaccine is approved before or after the election, it will be made available in "record time," he said. 

AstraZeneca Update: AstraZeneca confirmed it will kick off a late-stage clinical trial on Tuesday consisting of 30,000 people at the University of Wisconsin, Fox Business reported.

"We are moving quickly but without cutting corners," the company reportedly said.

Vaccines As A Stock Catalyst: The next catalyst to help lift stocks higher is a successful outcome from at least one of the major coronavirus vaccine trials, Standard Chartered Private Bank's Clive McDonnell said on CNBC's "Street Signs Asia."

A successful outcome by itself isn't enough, as it needs to be followed with quick action from the Food and Drug Administration to green-light distribution of the vaccine, he said.

At that point, the economic outlook would start to improve heading into 2021 and help lift value sectors, McDonnell said. 

In the meantime, easing daily death tolls in the U.S. will not spur a return to travel, tourism and people working in city centers, he said.

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