HomeNewsBusinessMarketsOil falls for sixth day as China virus spreads

Oil falls for sixth day as China virus spreads

Brent crude was down 15 cents, or 0.3%, to $59.17 at around 0114 GMT, after touching a three-month low on Monday at $58.50.

January 28, 2020 / 07:48 IST
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Oil futures slipped on Tuesday, extending losses into a sixth session as the spread of a new virus in China and other countries raised concerns about a hit to economic growth and slower oil demand.

Brent crude was down 15 cents, or 0.3%, to $59.17 at around 0114 GMT, after touching a three-month low on Monday at $58.50.

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U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 12 cents, or 0.2%, at $53.02, after slipping to its lowest since early October in the previous session at $52.13.

The United States warned against travel to China and other countries put out advisories as the death toll from the spreading coronavirus outbreak rose to 100 people and left millions of Chinese stranded during the biggest holiday of the year.

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.
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