Meanwhile, election campaigns are continuing in West Bengal state in eastern India, amid an alarming increase there as well, and experts fear that crowded rallies could fuel the spread of the virus. In Telengana state in southern India, home to Hyderabad city where most of India’s vaccine makers are based, the weekly average of infections has increased 16-fold in the past month. In the Himalayan region of Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir, the weekly average of COVID-19 cases has increased 11-fold in the past month. Similar strains can be seen in other parts of the vast country, where the fragile health system has been underfunded for decades and a failure to prepare for the current surge has left hospitals buckling under the pressure of mounting infections. The city of 29 million people has fewer than 100 beds with ventilators, and fewer than 150 beds available for patients needing critical care. Amid the rise in cases, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called off a trip to New Delhi. Experts agree that even these figures are likely undercounts. It has now recorded more than 15 million infections and more than 178,000 deaths. The country reported over 270,000 infections on Monday, its highest daily rise since the pandemic started. India has so far administered 120 million doses to its population of nearly 1.4 billion. The country began inoculating health workers in mid-January and later extended the drive to people over 45. embargo on exporting raw materials needed to make the shots.Īs it battles the rising cases, India announced Monday that it would vaccinate everyone older than 18 from May 1. President Joe Biden on Twitter last week to lift the U.S.
In a sign of the high stakes, the chief executive of Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, asked U.S.
But the surge has been devastating in India and has weighed heavily on the global efforts to end the pandemic since the country is a major vaccine producer but has been forced to delay exports of shots abroad, hampering campaigns in developing countries, in particular.
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