Home ›› World ›› South Asia

ONLINE EDITION

India's Covid vaccinations hit 2 billion, new cases at four-month high

Reuters . New Delhi
17 Jul 2022 16:45:29 | Update: 17 Jul 2022 17:02:46
India's Covid vaccinations hit 2 billion, new cases at four-month high
A policeman reacts as he receives a booster dose of the COVISHIELD vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), at a vaccination centre in Mumbai, India, January 10, 2022 — Reuters

The Indian government's Covid-19 vaccinations hit 2 billion on Sunday, with booster doses underway for all adults, as daily infections hit a four-month high, official data showed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled the vaccination milestone, celebrating the world's largest and longest-running inoculation campaign, which began last year.

"India creates history again!" Modi said in a tweet. The prime minister has faced allegations from the opposition of mishandling the pandemic that experts claim killed millions. The government rejects the claims.

Health ministry data shows the Covid death toll at 5,25,709, with 49 deaths recorded overnight.

ALSO READ — India approves Biological E Covid shot as a booster

New cases rose 20,528 over the past 24 hours, the highest since February 20, according to data compiled by Reuters.

The country of 1.35 billion people has lifted most Covid-related restrictions, and international travel has recovered robustly.

Some 80 per cent of the inoculations have been the AstraZeneca vaccine made domestically, called Covishield. Others include domestically developed Covaxin and Corbevax, and Russia's Sputnik V.

The federal government has been accelerating its booster campaign to avert the spread of infections, edging higher in the eastern states of Assam, West Bengal and Karnataka in the south.

×