Concerns about the new Covid-19 Omicron variant sent gold back above $1800, reaching a high of $1811.40.  However, this bubble burst almost immediately when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke to the Senate Banking Committee about his concerns about the effectiveness of the current vaccine in protecting individuals against this new Omicron variant.

In interviews with the Financial Times and CNBC, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel had predicted that current vaccines are "less effective against the new Omicron variant". Speaking to the Financial Times, he said that for him, there is no world where the efficacy is at the same level as we had with the Delta variant.

According to CNBC, Stephane Bancel also said Monday that it would take months to develop and ship a vaccine that specifically targets this omicron variant. "We don't know what we don't know." he said.  These statements were one of the main underlying factors that drove gold to its highest level in recent hours, above $1811.

Source : https://www.kitco.com