India orders unapproved Covid shots as it reels from devastating second wave
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
India orders unapproved Covid shots as it reels from devastating second wave

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
03 June, 2021, 06:25 pm
Last modified: 03 June, 2021, 06:31 pm

Related News

  • India vaccinates 3.8 million teens in new Covid-19 inoculation push
  • India's Modi calls meeting of state chiefs on fighting Omicron variant
  • India prepares for future Covid surge as cases inch up
  • India's fresh Covid tally at 44,646 with single-day rise of over 2,000 cases
  • India reports most new Covid cases in three weeks

India orders unapproved Covid shots as it reels from devastating second wave

So far, only about 4.7% of the 950 million adult population have been given two vaccine doses as the world's second-most populous country reels from a devastating second wave of infections that killed around 170,000 people in April and May alone

Reuters
03 June, 2021, 06:25 pm
Last modified: 03 June, 2021, 06:31 pm
File Photo: Small bottles labeled with a "Vaccine Covid-19" sticker and a medical syringe are seen in this illustration taken April 10, 2020. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
File Photo: Small bottles labeled with a "Vaccine Covid-19" sticker and a medical syringe are seen in this illustration taken April 10, 2020. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

India signed its first order for an unapproved Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday, a day after it faced criticism from the Supreme Court over its bungled vaccine rollout that has left millions of people vulnerable after almost 338,000 deaths.

So far, only about 4.7% of the 950 million adult population have been given two vaccine doses as the world's second-most populous country reels from a devastating second wave of infections that killed around 170,000 people in April and May alone.

The government will buy 300 million vaccine doses from local firm Biological-E and has put down an advance of $205.6 million, the health ministry said, even though the vaccine is still going through Phase III clinical trials.

"The arrangement with Biological-E is part of the wider endeavour of Government of India to encourage indigenous vaccine manufacturers by providing them support in research & development and also financial support," the ministry said in a statement.

India has been inoculating its people with AstraZeneca shots produced at the Serum Institute of India, Covaxin made by local firm Bharat Biotech and is set to commercially launch Russia's Sputnik V in mid-June.

But supplies are running short after the government opened vaccinations to all adults last month. Some vaccination centres have had to close down, prompting criticism from the Supreme Court about a lack of planning.

While the federal government gave free vaccines to the elderly and frontline workers, it left state governments and private hospitals to administer doses to people in the 18 to 45 age group at a price.

"The policy of the central government of conducting free vaccination themselves for groups under the first two phases, and replacing it with paid vaccination ... is, prima facie, arbitrary and irrational," the Supreme Court said.

The government said this week it could have as many as 10 million doses each day in July and August, up from just under three million now.

Pressure is set to mount further on the government to speed up vaccinations, as several states prepare to ease lockdowns even amid high numbers of daily infections and deaths.

The western state of Maharashtra, home to financial hub Mumbai, is set to lift most restrictions across half its districts from Friday, based on the availability of oxygen beds and infection rates, officials said.

India on Thursday announced 134,154 new infections over the past 24 hours, down more than 65% from a peak of 414,188 reported on May 7. The official recorded case load since the start of the pandemic now stands at 28.4 million, the second-highest in the world after the United States.

India added 2,887 deaths overnight, pushing the overall toll to 337,989, the world's third-highest toll after the United States and Brazil.

New Delhi's high court said some federal officials should be charged with manslaughter for the poor vaccine rollout.

"Who are they referring to, you think? This effectively concludes the debate on that subject," Sanjay Jha, a former Congress official and political commentator, said on Twitter.

"This government has failed. And failed its people miserably."

($1 = 72.9500 Indian rupees)

Top News

India Covid Crisis

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A labourer carries a sack filled with sugar to load it onto a supply truck at a wholesale market in Kolkata, India, November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri
    India restricts sugar exports at 10 million tonnes
  • Photo: Noor-A-Alam
    How fixed rate regime makes Bangladesh Bank’s monetary tools ineffective
  • British International Investment (BII) CEO Nick O’Donohoe. Illustration: TBS
    BII to invest $450m in Bangladesh in 5 years

MOST VIEWED

  • A medical worker takes a swab sample from a person for a nucleic acid test at a makeshift testing site, amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, in Beijing, China May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
    Beijing ramps up Covid quarantine, Shanghai residents decry uneven rules
  • A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. Photo :Reuters
    Pfizer says 3 Covid shots protect children under 5
  • A medical worker takes a swab sample from a person for a nucleic acid test at a makeshift testing site, amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, in Beijing, China May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
    Beijing urges millions to keep working from home amid Covid outbreak menace
  • Picture: PTI
    Saudi Arabia bans travel to India, 15 other countries over Covid outbreaks
  • A person in personal protective equipment (PPE) walks a dog at a resident community, as the second stage of a two-stage lockdown has been launched to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Shanghai, China April 3, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Shanghai reopens some public transport, still on high Covid alert
  • Workers in protective suit spray disinfectant at a community, during the lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Shanghai, China, April 5, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Dynamic zero-Covid approach: China's choice to safeguard lives, underpin growth

Related News

  • India vaccinates 3.8 million teens in new Covid-19 inoculation push
  • India's Modi calls meeting of state chiefs on fighting Omicron variant
  • India prepares for future Covid surge as cases inch up
  • India's fresh Covid tally at 44,646 with single-day rise of over 2,000 cases
  • India reports most new Covid cases in three weeks

Features

Underlying problems such as school dropouts need to be addressed first before taking a legal route to stop child labour. Photo: Reuters

‘Child labour in a country like Bangladesh is primarily a development issue, not so much of enforcement’

16m | Panorama
The balcony railings of the Boro Sardar Bari in Sonargaon. Made of cast iron, these railings feature vertical posts with intricate designs on top. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The evolution of railing and grille designs

23h | Habitat
A Russian army service member fires a howitzer during drills at the Kuzminsky range in the southern Rostov region, Russia January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo

3 months of Ukraine war : Miscalculations, resistance and redirected focus

1d | Analysis
Musk is denying the sexual harassment allegation that surfaced this week. Photo: Bloomberg

Elon Musk’s crazily banal week 

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

When is the right time to invest?

When is the right time to invest?

26m | Videos
Bangladesh Bank relaxes rules to deal with dollar crisis

Bangladesh Bank relaxes rules to deal with dollar crisis

13h | Videos
Russia claims use of laser weapons, Ukraine denies

Russia claims use of laser weapons, Ukraine denies

13h | Videos
Celebrity Gallery in Rajshahi like Madame Tussauds

Celebrity Gallery in Rajshahi like Madame Tussauds

14h | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Banking

Dollar hits Tk100 mark in open market

3
Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi
Bangladesh

Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi

4
BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies
Stocks

BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies

5
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Habitat

The United House: Living and working inside nature

6
Illustration: TBS
Banking

Let taka slide

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab