India's opposition demands faster vaccinations after 1.5 mn new Covid cases in a week

Volunteers help the burning of funeral pyres of people who died due to the Covid-19 coronavirus, at a cremation ground in New Delhi

India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday demanded the government rapidly vaccinate the entire country and scientifically track the coronavirus in an effort to curb a deadly second wave which saw 1.5 million new cases in a week. ‘Your government's lack of a clear and coherent Covid and vaccination strategy, as well as its hubris in declaring premature victory as the virus was exponentially spreading, has placed India in a highly dangerous position,’ Gandhi said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Modi has been widely criticised for not acting sooner to suppress the second wave, after religious festivals and political rallies drew tens of thousands of people in recent weeks and became ‘super spreader’ events. His government has also been criticised for lifting social restrictions too soon following the first wave and for delays in the country's vaccination programme, which medical experts say is India's only hope of controlling the second Covid-19 wave.