My guesses:
- appearances: with the lawsuit, there is always risk of SEC/DOJ, so if there is covering, it would be covering the illegal naked shorts, not the legal.
- manipulation: not showing weakness, they have imposed "learned helplessness" onto retail holders (a form of battered retail investor syndrome that share price and valuation will always be neutered to some degree). This is so retail shareholders psychologically discount the value of DCVax potential. Why? So they will sell their holdings when share price hits $5 or $10. That is how they can exit, without a leg or an arm but can live to fight another day.
- desperation, hold the line: in too deep already. Shorts don't have wiggle room or capacity to cover. The Nasdaq and S&P500 are all up YTD and longer term, so their profit on other short positions may be losses to them. They are on edge financially already. There is a wolfpack of recruited, smaller short hedge fund minions that are already about to abandon ship. Any covering triggers a short squeeze.
Bullish