The COVID–19 pandemic definitely came uncalled and in the quest for some fun and an escape from twitchiness we tried to trail our helpless souls to every known or unknown digital alley including video calling our friends on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. But now it seems that our twitchiness has backfired upon us.
Speaking of which, Zoom, which has been experiencing traffic of about 300,000 million users daily saw its share prices dropped by 16% on Monday.
The fall in share prices was preceded by the US pharmaceutical company ‘Pfizer’ along with its German counterpart BioNTech’s announcement that their COVID–19 vaccine has shown 90% effectiveness in building immunity against COVID-19.
Zoom shares lose value
Zoom’s user base increased from roughly 10 million daily users in December 2019 to 200 million daily users in March 2020.
Although, this fall in the company’s value only resulted in what its worth was in mid–September. Zoom shares have fallen by 16% in the pre-market trading after the announcement of the pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer.
The fall in the share prices of Zoom can also be translated as ease of fear and lockdown measures around the globe due to the virus.
The Indian government had already cautioned the public about the video conferencing app being ‘unsafe’. There have been numerous reports of Zoom engaging in privacy breaches.
You think it’s all pink and purple, WFH!
Another translation of Zoom’s fallen shares can be interpreted as people getting sick of this ‘work from home’ lifestyle.
This might sound really simple and fun. You don’t need a wake-up alarm, you don’t have to eat breakfast in a rush, prepare a lunch box, decide to get into a metro or worry about cab fares, but instead relax at home. Before lockdown, the option to ‘work from home’ was often viewed with envy and longing.
Many felt (including myself, of course) that it was so unfair and God was overly kind to them.
So now, by the time we finish all our ‘tasks’ and log in to our office account or online classes, we are either way too late or have missed the lecture entirely.
Not to mention, our current evolution to attend all sorts of meetings with our eyes shut and device screen ‘on’ is truly a marvellous accomplishment and talent, per se.
Read More: Why A Section Of Global Population Does Not Want To Take COVID-19 Vaccine Shot
And how can we forget the constant trips to the front door serving as a distraction?
With so much to do, the laptop’s constant beeping for a video call now sounds more like a ticking time bomb. Because we haven’t bathed, combed and are still in our pajamas.
It’s said that life has a sweet melody to it and this pandemic has made us realize it in many ways with children screaming outside, the cooker whistling, the neighbour’s dog yelping, constant video, voice and meets ID ringing in our devices never making us forget the saying for sure. Truly an unforgettable cacophony, I meant music!
The global race for a COVID–19 vaccine
American pharmaceutical Pfizer Inc., along with its German partner BioNTech SE, on Monday said that early data has shown that their COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.
The company further said that they are the first drugmakers to show successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. Pfizer Inc., according to reports, has also indicated that it is on track later this month to file an emergency use application with US regulators.
It’s also interesting to note that after their announcement, Pfizer’s shares rose by 14.2% and BioNTech’s by 23% in the pre-trading market.
Although, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria has said that common people in India will have to wait till 2022 to get vaccinated. He also hinted that a vaccine ‘will not vanish’ the COVID-19 infection.
Blame it on the ‘pandemic’
As COVID-19 has spread across the globe, businesses have prudently shut down their offices and have moved millions of employees from corporate desks to their domestic couches.
Many are quarantined in tiny spaces, often with their children, hopping from one Zoom meeting to another like everything is business as usual. And it kind of is. Until your kid runs into the room, which is inevitable, interrupting your boss mid-sentence and shouting, loudly, “Poo poo!”
So, yes! The world is under a pandemic attack and ‘work from home’ is the new status quo for all of us. And if your cat is judging you for the way you are handling the WFH life and is tired of you being around the house for too long, then you have no choice but to add that to your list of WFH routine as well.
Image credits: Google Images
Source: The Independent, The Hindu, Forbes
Find the blogger: @sejalsejals38
This post is tagged under: India, pharma industry, pharmaceutical, drugs, medicine, USA, government, policies, international relations, exports, imports, economy, research, science, institute, COVID-19, vaccine, COVID-19 Vaccine, ZOOM, ZOOM meeting app, meeting apps, stock market, shares, work from home, lockdown, pandemic, Trump, Biden, WHO
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