India vaccinates 8 million in a day

(FASTNEWS |   INDIA) – India has launched a new vaccine drive, announcing a record eight million jabs on the first day of the programme.

The new policy sees the federal government buying Covid-19 jabs from manufacturers and supplying to states.

India is one of the largest vaccine makers in the world but its own vaccination drive has been moving at a slow pace.

It has fully vaccinated just over 5% of the total eligible population so far and shortages persist in many states.

To scale up the vaccination drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced earlier this month that everyone would get “free vaccines” from 21 June.

On the first day of the new policy he praised the pace of India’s vaccine programme.