India’s vaccine milestone remarkable but threat remains

The country is celebrating delivery of 1 billion vaccine doses, but millions are yet to receive any dose at all

INDIA has administered more than 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses, a remarkable feat just months after a second wave of infection killed thousands of people across the country.

ut as India celebrated passing the milestone on Thursday, some experts warned the pandemic threat was not over -- in a nation of 1.3 billion, millions of people are yet to receive any dose at all.

So far, India has fully vaccinated just 30 of its adult population and given one dose to 74 , according to India’s Ministry of Health on October 16. Those statistics don’t include children under 18 who make up 41 of India’s population and aren’t yet eligible for the jab.

ut even as India races to fully vaccinate its adult population, the country is opening up and exporting millions of vaccine doses. On Friday, the first foreign tourists arrived in the country after an almost 18-month pause, and within the country millions are traveling to celebrate various festivals, with movement expected to increase in November during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.”

Experts fear that interstate travel and the possibility of new variants could lead to a third surge in infection -- leaving unvaccinated people and children most at risk.

“It’s difficult to predict because the global experience shows that things could turn sour at any point of time,” said Dr. Anant

han, a global health and policy expert from the central Indian city of hopal. “ut the trend in India right now is very encouraging. The number of vaccines administered is high and there is no upswing in cases.”

Up to 8 million doses are being administered on a typical day, but the Indian Medical Association is calling for the government to cease exports until more people are vaccinated at home.

India has had two waves of Covid-19 -- one last year before vaccines were available, and the second that began only weeks into the country’s ambitious inoculation program earlier this year.

The first doses started rolling out in January to vulnerable citizens and frontline workers, part of a priority group of 300 million people -- almost as many people as the entire US population.

At the same time, millions of doses of Covishield -- the Astraeneca vaccine produced in India -- were being exported to other countries and the global vaccine-sharing platform COVA .

Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed India was saving “entire humanity” from tragedy. ut at home, the world’s largest vaccine program was struggling.

“We absolutely faced hiccups in the beginning,” Dr. J. A. Jayalal, president of the Indian Medical Association told CNN. “We weren’t able to meet our huge demand, and there was a lot of hesitancy, especially among our rural population.”

Vaccination rates were still very low as the second Covid wave built in early March, and by the end of the month, the government had stopped vaccine exports to prioritize Indians.

The surge in Covid cases brought panic and despair as millions tried to navigate the country’s collapsing health care system. Some desperately posted for help on social media, hopeful to secure a hospital bed or medical oxygen.

In April -- weeks before cases peaked at more than 400,000 a day -- vaccine supplies dried up, with at least five out of India’s 29 states reporting severe shortages.

Several districts in the western state of Maharashtra had to temporarily suspend vaccination drives, including more than 70 centers in financial capital Mumbai, according to the state’s health minister, Rajesh Tope.