Shanghai Lockdown: China to the rescue as auto, chip sectors suffer

Chinese manufacturers are prepared to reopen facilities following the almost three-week COVID-19 closure in Shanghai.

Moneycontrol News

April 19, 2022 / 09:43 IST

Shanghai in lockdown (Image: AP)

China will aid automakers, chipmakers, and other critical businesses in getting back on track as long-term limitations related to lockdowns suffocate economic activity in Shanghai - China's commercial and financial hub.

Shanghai reported 22,248 new local cases on April 17. Travel restrictions are still in effect across much of the city despite the spread slowing.

According to Chinese media, automakers and suppliers accounted for roughly 40 percent of the total, far more than any other industry. Pharmaceutical and medical companies made up over 30 percent of the total, with semiconductor, energy, and petrochemical companies accounting for around 10 percent, Nikkei Asia reported.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and Baoshan Iron & Steel remained open during the outbreak. Meanwhile, 45 percent of those halted output, with the car sector accounting for more than 70 percent of the total.

As per a Reuters report, Chinese manufacturers are prepared to reopen facilities following the almost three-week COVID-19 closure in Shanghai. The new supply disruption occurred just as China, the world's largest oil importer, was expecting demand to increase as manufacturing plants in Shanghai prepared to reopen.

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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