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INDIA’S VACCINE DRIVE SNAGGED AS DAILY VIRUS CASES ZOOM TO 400,000
- By The Financial District
- May 1, 2021
- 2 min read
India registered 386,452 new coronavirus cases on Friday, April 30, 2021, yet another global record for infections in a single day, even as the country's new round of vaccinations appeared uncertain, with many states citing lack of doses, Siddhartha Kumar reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).
COVID-19 claimed 3,498 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 208,330, data from the federal Health Ministry showed. India has logged over 300,000 cases for the ninth straight day, recording globally record-breaking infection numbers in the worst outbreak seen to date.
India's vaccination drive is set to open to everyone older than 18 years from Saturday, but many states said they had run out of doses.
Worst-hit major states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and national capital New Delhi said they had not been assured of adequate supplies and would not be able to start the vaccinations on Saturday.
India's financial hub of Mumbai closed vaccinations for three days from Friday citing insufficient stocks.
Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of New Delhi, the worst-hit city, told residents not to queue up for vaccines on Saturday and said people would be informed once new stocks arrive.
Only 2.2 million people were vaccinated on Thursday, the lowest daily figure for vaccinations in the past 10 days, broadcaster NDTV reported, indicating how the vaccine drive was floundering.
Daily vaccinations had peaked at 4.5 million doses on April 5, but the numbers have dropped since then. As many as 25 million have already registered for the new vaccination round on a government portal since Thursday after the initial drive began in January.
So far only 10 percent of the eligible people aged 45 years and above have received at least one vaccine dose. Vaccines in India are in short supply given its large population of more than 1.3 billion - even though India produces vaccines en masse and is known as the "pharmacy of the world."
