India administers a billion Covid jabs
Gulf Times
A health worker (L) registers a man for a dose of the Covaxin vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a health centre in New Delhi.
India administered its billionth Covid-19 vaccine dose on Thursday, half a year after a devastating surge in cases brought the health system close to collapse.
According to the government, around three-quarters of adults in the country of 1.3 billion people have had one shot and around 30 percent are fully vaccinated.
However, hundreds of millions of Indians under 18 -- who make up some 40 percent of the population -- have not had a single shot.
India suffered a huge spike in cases in April and May, reporting more than 400,000 infections and 4,000 deaths per day, with many hospitals unable to cope and crematoriums overwhelmed.
