When India launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive in the middle of January, the chances of success looked high: It could produce more shots than any country in the world and had decades of experience inoculating pregnant women and babies in rural areas.
“Our preparation has been such that vaccine is fast reaching every corner of the country,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Jan. 22. “On the world’s biggest need today, we are completely self-reliant. Not just that, India is also helping out many countries with vaccines.”
Just more than three months later, that initial promise has evaporated and the government’s