No coronavirus vaccines for India s frightened mums-to-be
4 hours ago A health worker checks the body temperature of a passenger as she arrives with her child at a railway platform in Mumbai on Tuesday. AFP
Tanya Ashnigdh is four months pregnant and frightened, one of the millions of expectant mothers excluded from India s faltering vaccination drive despite being at greater risk from COVID-19.
In a country with one of the world s poorest-funded health care services, giving birth has always been fraught with risks and the devastating recent coronavirus surge has worsened the situation.
Ashnigdh, 31, lives in Muzaffarpur in India s poorest state Bihar. Like other cities, it has been ravaged by the pandemic, and the state s decrepit public hospitals have struggled to deal with the spike in cases.