After a deadly second wave spurred changes in India’s vaccine policy, the country announced it had given 7.5 million coronavirus vaccine doses Monday - a new single day record for inoculations.
The previous high mark was 4.5 million on April 5, which was reportedly followed by a decline to below 3 million a day.
The surge in vaccinations follows distribution changes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month. Under the new plan, the government would buy 75% of the vaccines and give them to the states free of charge.
India says it aims to inoculate 950 million adults by December, but experts say in order to do that, it will have to give 10 million shots a day. Less than 5% of adults are fully vaccinated, Reuters reported.
India is using a locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine as well as Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, made by an Indian company.
During the country’s second wave, which peaked in May, some 400,000 new cases were reported per day. Around 170,000 died between April and May.
But over the past 24 hours, the infection rate has dropped below 55,000 new cases, according to Reuters.
