India orders an unapproved vaccine as pandemic rages
Hindu priests wait next to over 560 unclaimed clay urns containing ashes of people who died due to COVID-19 on the banks of the Cauvery River before a mass immersion ritual organized by the government of Karnataka state, in Belakavadi Village.
India signed its first order for an unapproved COVID-19 vaccine yesterday, a day after it faced criticism from the Supreme Court over its bungled vaccine rollout that has left millions of people vulnerable after almost 338,000 deaths.
So far, only about 4.7 percent of the 950 million adult population have been given two vaccine doses as the world's second-most populous country reels from a devastating second wave of infections that killed around 170,000 people in April and May alone.
The government will buy 300 million vaccine doses from local firm Biological-E and has put down an advance of US$205.6 million, the health ministry said, even though the vaccine is still going through Phase III clinical trials.
"The arrangement with Biological-E is part of the wider endeavor of Government of India to encourage indigenous vaccine manufacturers by providing them support in research and development and also financial support," the ministry said in a statement.
India has been inoculating its people with AstraZeneca shots produced at the Serum Institute of India, Covaxin made by local firm Bharat Biotech and is set to commercially launch Russia's Sputnik V in mid-June.
But supplies are running short after the government opened vaccinations to all adults last month. Some vaccination centers have had to close down, prompting criticism from the Supreme Court about a lack of planning.
While the federal government gave free vaccines to the elderly and front-line workers, it left state governments and private hospitals to administer doses to people in the 18 to 45 age group at a price.
"The policy of the central government of conducting free vaccination themselves for groups under the first two phases, and replacing it with paid vaccination ... is, prima facie, arbitrary and irrational," the Supreme Court said.
The government said this week it could have as many as 10 million doses each day in July and August, up from just under three million now.
Pressure is set to mount further on the government to speed up vaccinations, as several states prepare to ease lockdowns even amid high numbers of daily infections and deaths.
The western state of Maharashtra, home to financial hub Mumbai, is set to lift most restrictions across half its districts from today, based on the availability of oxygen beds and infection rates, officials said.
India on Thursday announced 134,154 new infections over 24 hours, down more than 65 percent from a peak of 414,188 on May 7. The official recorded caseload since the start of the pandemic is 28.4 million, the second-highest in the world.
