India's vaccinations hit record with free COVID shots

New Delhi: India gave out a record 5 million vaccine doses on Monday under a federal campaign to inoculate all adults for free after weeks of criticism that a chaotic rollout had worsened a second wave that killed hundreds of thousands.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government would buy 75% of all vaccines from drug makers and distribute those for free to states, which along with private hospitals, had earlier been buying shots for people aged 18-45. "It marks the beginning of the end of adversities related to COVID-19 in the country," Giridhara Babu, a member of the Indian Council of Medical Research, the country's main health research agency, told Reuters.