Unilever

UL -0.18%

PLC said it wouldn’t increase its $68 billion offer for

GlaxoSmithKline

GSK 0.49%

PLC’s consumer-healthcare business, effectively walking away from a potential deal that would have added a raft of drugstore staples to its portfolio.

The announcement Wednesday from the maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap came after days of criticism from analysts and investors about the price and strategic fit of the proposed transaction. Unilever’s shares have fallen sharply this week since news of a possible deal was disclosed over the weekend.

Even if an investor’s planning to hold onto their shares for many years, it helps to start an investment off on the right foot. Seeing early stock price gains can help to cement confidence in a pick, which can give them the conviction that’s needed to hold onto it during future downturns.

So, today I’ll be discussing a pair of healthcare stocks that have enough gas in the tank to make impressive gains in 2022. Both are heavily reliant on COVID-19 vaccine revenue at the moment, but neither is content to be a one-trick pony.

1. Pfizer

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has (at least) two major revenue drivers that could power its share price higher: Its coronavirus vaccine, Comirnaty, and its new antiviral treatment for COVID-19, Paxlovid. That’s on top of the myriad number of other moneymakers in its massive portfolio of drugs, of course.

Investors are probably

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) —The CDC is shortening the COVID-19 isolation period for health care workers as cases continue to rise around the nation.

The new recommended guidance from the CDC cuts the quarantine time for healthcare workers from 10 days to seven.

Health care workers with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic can now return to work after seven days if they receive a negative test, and that isolation time can be cut shorter if there are staffing emergencies.

Also, those who have received all COVID-19 vaccine doses, as well as a booster, do not need to quarantine at home following high-risk exposures.

“As the healthcare community prepares for an anticipated surge in patients due to omicron, CDC is updating our recommendations to reflect what we know about infection and exposure in the context of vaccination and booster doses,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “Our goal is to keep healthcare personnel

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new isolation and quarantine guidance for health care workers, as the highly contagious omicron variant threatens to infect frontline hospital personnel and further burden the country’s strained health care sector.

Health care workers can now isolate for a shorter period of time following a COVID-19 exposure, the CDC announced Thursday evening. If workers test positive for the virus but are asymptomatic, they can return to the frontlines after seven days with a negative COVID test.

That isolation time could be reduced even more based on staffing shortages, the CDC said.

In updated quarantine guidance, the CDC said workers do not need to stay home following “high-risk exposures” if they are fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID.

“Our goal is to keep healthcare personnel and patients safe, and to address and prevent undue burden on our healthcare facilities,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made it more difficult for some people to get out of quarantine or isolation- New York has taken steps to do just that.

At least for healthcare, retail, and other ‘essential’ workers.

Governor Kathy Hochul gave a briefing on Christmas Eve, revealing the most cases ever discovered in a single day. But also said the 10-day mandatory quarantine for critical workers will be shorted to five days if vaccinated and asymptomatic.

They will be required to wear a mask, but the highly-contagious Omicron variant of COVID, has required healthcare workers to be utilized in different spaces.

Peter

A staff member cleans medical equipment inside a ward that is set up to treat people infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, India, December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Amit Dave

NEW DELHI, Dec 25 (Reuters) – India will start administering COVID-19 booster shots as a precautionary measure to healthcare and frontline workers from Jan. 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, as cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant rose across the country.

In a national address, Modi also said those aged 15-18 would start receiving COVID-19 vaccinations from Jan. 3 and those above 60 with comorbidities would be offered booster shots after recommendation from doctors.

“From the point of view of precaution, the government has decided that healthcare and frontline workers should start getting a precaution dose,” Modi said in the speech.