Fuel price hike, COVID-19 safety impact festive shopping in Delhi, says survey

The Mood of the Consumer survey by LocalCircles, a community social media platform for people to discuss issues, showed that for 31 per cent Delhi consumers 'budget/value' is the top criteria for their festive season shopping this year, while for 37 per cent 'safety', and for 11 per cent ’selection or range’ is the deciding factor.

PTI

October 27, 2021 / 08:25 IST

Petrol and diesel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes. (Representative image)

COVID-19 safety and impact on household budget by the steady rise in prices of fuel and essentials have become important criteria for people in Delhi to make decisions on festive shopping, an online survey has found.

The Mood of the Consumer survey by LocalCircles, a community social media platform for people to discuss issues, showed that for 31 per cent Delhi consumers 'budget/value' is the top criteria for their festive season shopping this year, while for 37 per cent 'safety', and for 11 per cent ’selection or range’ is the deciding factor.

For 21 per cent, 'convenience' was the top priority. The survey showed a jump in the percentage of households that planned for festival shopping from 30 per cent in May to 60 per cent in September as the Covid situation improved.

The survey showed a jump in the percentage of households that planned for festival shopping from 30 per cent in May to 60 per cent in September as the Covid situation improved.

"However, rising prices of petrol, diesel and other essentials are having an impact on household budgets,” the survey said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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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