India launches largest vaccination campaign to date against rising coronavirus

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India on Thursday began vaccinating tens of thousands of people over 45 in its biggest surge to date against a coronavirus outbreak that reached the highest daily count since early October , officials said.

The second most populous country in the world is aiming to immunize 400 million people after expanding the program, which had been limited to those over 60 and people with serious health problems, a government official said.

“We need 400 million people to be vaccinated. This is our minimum requirement, our target, ”the source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

“Right now we are facing an emergency situation. Whatever we have, we will use it, ”the source said.

Anxious people lined up early at Max Hospital in New Delhi to get vaccinated against the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker.

“We have been saying from the start, everywhere and on social media, that please open the immunization program, let everyone get it and be free of tension,” said Madhav Singh Rathore, 53. , a salesperson in a clothing store. among a line of people waiting to receive the injection.

India launched its innoculation program in January, focusing on health workers and then the elderly, saying it wanted to cover the most vulnerable first.

‘WORSE AND WORSE’

It has also shipped millions of doses of the vaccine to neighboring countries and then around the world as part of a diplomatic move to make friends, but in recent times this has drawn criticism that people at the house were neglected.

Adding to the pressure on the government, the daily rise in cases quadrupled in the space of a month as most of India reopened for business and travel restrictions were lifted.

“The situation is going from bad to worse,” VK Paul, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s senior COVID-19 adviser, said this week.

Data released by the Department of Health on Thursday showed 72,330 new COVID-19 infections, the highest since October 11. The deaths amount to 162,927.

India’s overall caseload stood at 12.22 million, making it the third most affected country in the world, behind the United States and Brazil.

Despite the second wave of infections, hundreds of Hindu worshipers gathered on the banks of the Ganges in the northern city of Haridwar to take a holy dip on the first day of a month’s’ Kumbh Mela, or the festival of launcher.

“Mother Ganga will protect us and destroy all the negative impact of COVID-19 in the world. However, we have to be careful and take precautions, ”said Sunanda, a devotee.

Local authorities have said anyone coming from the 12 states where cases are on the rise will need to produce a negative COVID-19 test before being allowed to bathe in the river.