wrong. Again. Call it 0 for 110 tries.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...edly-running-out-of-vaccines-amid-covid-surge
India reportedly running out of vaccines amid Covid surge
Government’s plans to ramp up the vaccination programme by the weekend under threat
Coronavirus updates
India is reportedly running out of Covid-19 vaccines just as a virulent second wave continues to devastate the country, threatening the government’s plans to ramp up the vaccination programme by the weekend in an effort to curb the
spread of the virus.
From Saturday, everyone in
India over the age of 18 will be eligible for a vaccine, a decision made by the government as the virus has brought India’s healthcare system to its knees, with more than 352,000 new cases on Monday and more than 2,800 more deaths.
Mutations, politics, vaccines: the factors behind India’s Covid crisis
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Hospitals across the capital, Delhi, continued to issue SOS calls over acute oxygen shortages, with eight patients dying in private hospitals on Sunday when
oxygen supplies ran dry. Many of the biggest hospitals in the capital said they had stopped admitting new patients as all beds were full and oxygen was running out, while Delhi’s Ganga Ram hospital said it was on “beg and borrow mode” for oxygen cylinders used in its ambulances.
High hopes have been placed on an expanded vaccine rollout to help halt the spread of the virus. However, in several of the worst affected states including Rajasthan, Punjab, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, state governments have said there is already a shortage or complete lack of availability of jabs and they had been unable to order more, throwing doubts on any expansion of vaccine rollout by 1 May when about 900 million more people will become eligible.
n the week to 25 April, the country recorded a cumulative 89% increase in Covid deaths compared with the week before, and a total of 2.2 million new cases – the highest seven-day increase experienced anywhere in the world. Total confirmed infections have now passed 17 million.
In a phone call to prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday, Joe Biden promised emergency assistance.
The US “is providing a range of emergency assistance, including oxygen-related supplies, vaccine materials and therapeutics,” Biden told Modi, according to a statement.
Most of the onus to deliver the vaccines has fallen on India’s Serum Institute, the country’s largest vaccine producer, which produces the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, known in India as Covishield. However, they have been struggling to meet demand, with capacity to currently make only 70m doses a month. Last week the government approved a $400m grant to the company to boost production to 100m doses a month by the end of May.
Four states, all under opposition governments, said they had placed orders for additional vaccines to meet the expanded demand from 1 May, but had been told by the Serum Institute that no more vaccines could be delivered until at last 15 May.