New Delhi: India will miss a target to administer over a half billion COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of the month as Bharat Biotech – maker of its only approved homegrown shot – struggles to boost output, an analysis of government data showed on Monday.
India has undertaken one of the world’s largest vaccination drives and has so far distributed some 430 million doses – more than any country except China, but less than many countries relative to its population.
The government said in May it would make 516 million shots available by the end of July. It wants to inoculate all its estimated 944 million adults by December. read more
To meet the July-end target, however, authorities will have to more than triple average daily vaccinations to 14 million doses. But that will not be possible, based on the latest supply projections for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine.
The government had been counting on deliveries of 60 million to 70 million Covaxin doses monthly from July…
