COVID-19 Cases Soaring, All Indians Over 18 Will Be Vaccinated

COVID-19 illustration. (Wikimedia Commons / Alberto Giuliani)

JAKARTA - The Indian government has decided that all citizens over the age of 18 will receive the COVID-19 vaccine from May 1. That step was announced Monday, along with a spike in COVID-19 cases and the lockdown in New Delhi.

Daily COVID-19 cases in India soared a record 273,810 on Monday, and deaths rose 1,619 to 178,769. Hospitals are short on beds, oxygen and primary medicine, and infections have passed 15 million, the second highest number in the world after the United States.

Facing growing criticism over its handling of the second wave of the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said vaccine producers must supply 50 percent of the dose to the federal government and the rest to state governments and the open market at previously announced prices.

As of Monday, India had administered nearly 123.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the world's largest after the United States and China, despite a much lower per capita vaccination ranking.

"The vaccination process is currently controlled by the federal government. Liberalization will increase vaccine production and availability, as well as attract new domestic and international vaccine producers", the government said in a statement.

"This will also make the pricing, procurement, feasibility and administration of vaccines open and flexible, allowing all stakeholders the flexibility to adapt to local needs and dynamics", the government continued.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister of India Arvind Kejriwal said the Indian capital, New Delhi, would undergo a tight lockdown for the next six days starting Monday evening.

He explained that the health care system was at a breaking point in line with the worsening of the COVID-19 outbreak. New Delhi has an acute shortage of hospital beds, medical oxygen supplies and essential drugs such as the antiviral Remdesivir.

"If the lockdown is not implemented now, the situation will get out of control", he said.

New Delhi joins 13 other Indian states that have decided to impose restrictions, curfews or lockdowns, including the richest states in Maharashtra and Gujarat.