India’s vaccine exports to drop

Amidst surging infections, the government has decided that people above 45 years will now be included in India’s coronavirus inoculation programme. This will further delay vaccine exports from the world’s biggest maker of the drug. Currently, India is the third most severely affected country in the world by COVID-19, after the United States and Brazil. India has so far injected 64 million doses and exported almost as many.

India’s mass vaccine drive initially focused on front-like workers, the elderly and those suffering from other health conditions. This was different from the more advanced countries that have made all their adults eligible to get inoculated. “Centre to continually replenish states’ supplies,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan tweeted, assuring the nation.