India vowed to inoculate all adults from today to beat back a cataclysmic COVID-19 surge which was adding 350 000 fresh cases every day. But vaccine shortages prompted several cities to put off the ambitious roll-out, giving rise to despair in the nation where the deadly virus so far has claimed 205 000 lives.
130 million Indians rushed to sign up for the grand opening but cities such as Delhi asked people not to queue up for the shot, said Dhiren Shah, a hospital director in Mumbai, which suspended vaccination for three days.
Just 9% of India’s 1.4 billion people have received a dose since January and expert Harsh Mahajan said vaccine-makers were only to be blamed for the mess.
India’s two vaccine producers were struggling to increase monthly capacity beyond 80 million doses. But healthcare activist Malini Aisola said only by June vaccines would be available more easily.
Huge queues were forming at vaccine centers still functioning in India, which has added 7.7 million cases since February.
Hospitals in the country have been overwhelmed with patients:
