The pandemic has spread from large cities to even the remotest rural areas. Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign is stalling with one million fewer daily vaccinations compared to a month ago.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – The new wave of the pandemic is spreading to more and more regions of India. At the same time, instead of accelerating, the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 is slowing down, this according to the latest data released today on the coronavirus situation.
The number of daily cases reported remains high at 348,421 while the official death toll in the last 24 hours rose to 4,205, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. The latter however does not take into account unaccounted deaths, an issue highlighted by the discovery of bodies floating in the Ganges.
What is even more striking is the fact that 640 of India’s 734 districts (almost 90 per cent) have a positivity rate above 5 per cent. This means that the virus is spreading more and more every day even outside the big cities, into the rural areas of the country, to states like Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland, two of India’s most peripheral areas.
Concern is also growing over the slowdown in the vaccination campaign. Data show that the number of people vaccinated has steadily decreased since 11 April, the campaign’s high point with 3.66 million people vaccinated in a single day. Since 19 April, only 2.5 million people or less have been vaccinated daily.
In a country where hospitals are reeling from the wave of COVID-19 patients, vaccination is also hampered by vaccine shortages. Yesterday in New Delhi the authorities ran out of vaccines and had to shut down as many as a hundred vaccination points.
The decision by the Modi government on 1 May to make individual states responsible to vaccinate people under 45 has made matters worse. This has led to competition among states and even more confusion.
Yesterday, seven of India's largest states announced that they would be turning to the international suppliers, but it will be hard for them to individually negotiate favourable prices and conditions.
So far, the international community has provided India with oxygen-producing equipment, not vaccines. India's Consul General in Hong Kong has called on China today to reduce costs related to vaccines and cargo flights.
In fact, prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks after air links with India were suspended. Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar spoke by phone to discuss the issue.
China is one of 50 countries that have sent aid to India, despite recent border clashes in the Himalayan region and historical mistrust between the two nations.