Why does India have a Covid-19 vaccine shortage? Quartz 3 hrs ago Samanth Subramanian © Provided by Quartz Health workers attach a notice on the shortage of COVID-19 vaccine supplies at a vaccination centre in Mumbai
For years, India has made and exported more vaccines than any other country. Yet its vaccination drive against Covid-19, which began in early January, is stumbling and faltering.
To this observation, the most obvious response is that India’s population is huge and scattered that reaching 1.39 billion people is a complicated, time-consuming task. True enough, though the government’s mode of vaccine delivery its maze of crashing apps, differential pricing, unclear messaging, and patchy record-keeping is still cause for worry. But the real problem is the alarming shortage of vaccines. This week, India opened up vaccinations to over-18s, but most states didn’t have enough stock to offer shots. Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute
COVID-19 vaccines: Waiting for advantage India
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The vaccine crisis
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By Dr Edward Nazareth
Apr 12: As the number of new cases of COVID19 are exceeding a lakh per day and deaths from COVID19 are also steadily increasing, the Union Health Ministry of India has warned that Covid-19 is spreading at a faster rate in the country compared to last year. The authorities have cautioned not to take the ongoing pandemic lightly; however common people seem to be care free. Wearing a mask and wearing it properly, maintaining social distance and avoiding crowded places is hardly seen.
In India, COVID19 vaccines are available for everyone over the age of 45 years. This is the third phase of COVID19 vaccine drive in our country. More than 65 million doses have been given so far, mostly to frontline workers and people above the age of 60. The world s biggest inoculation drive aims to cover 250 million people by July this year.
Vaccine shortages hit India as Covid second wave gathers pace
Some vaccination centres have had to send people home and facilities have been shut in several states
A vaccination centre in Mumbai, India on 8 April
Credit: Bhushan Koyande/AFP
India may be forced to scale back its Covid-19 immunisation programme despite calls for its expansion amid a virulent second wave of the virus, after ten states revealed they had fewer than four days of vaccine stocks left.
In the eastern state of Odisha, shortages have already resulted in the authorities closing nearly half of the immunisation sites, while facilities have also been shut in the western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital of Mumbai.