India pipping hopes to resume vaccine exports amid anticipated 3rd wave

From January, India began exporting vaccines to more than 90 countries. But the exports stopped when infections soared in India, leaving many developing countries without adequate supplies and affecting millions of people. As critics accused India of mismanaging its sluggish vaccination efforts at home, countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh began looking toward China to fill their vaccine shortfalls.

The Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker, also abandoned its role as the main supplier to COVAX, the U.N.-backed project to supply vaccines to poor regions of the world. Last month, it said it may not be able to start delivering doses until the end of this year, dealing a significant blow to global efforts to immunize people against the coronavirus.

Confirmed coronavirus cases in India have surpassed 29 million, while deaths have surged beyond 380,000. Experts believe both numbers are vast undercounts. New cases are finally tapering off after exceeding 400,000 a day in May, a global record. But authorities are gearing up for another possible wave of infection and are focusing on yanking vaccination rates up.

Currently, less than 5% of India's people are fully immunized, with experts cautioning that vaccination rates must go up significantly to protect a sizable chunk of the population by the end of the year. The hope is that India will achieve a rapid increase in inoculations in the coming months.

While much of India's vast rural hinterlands were largely spared from COVID-19 last year, that has not been the case during the recent surge. Access to healthcare is much more limited in the countryside, raising fears that the virus could rip through small towns and villages unabated.