updated: Apr 04 2021, 10:51 ist The clock is ticking on India's Covid-19 vaccination drive. The world's second-most populous nation has to inoculate 35 crore citizens in the shortest possible time after it threw open jabs to everyone above 45 years. The race against time gets more testing due to the hurdles ahead, and some that persist from the previous phases. First, vaccinators are short-handed, which compounds the poor healthcare infrastructure. Second, the private sector is dragging its feet, posing a big challenge to scaling up operations. The lack of engagement with people from the lower socio-economic background isn't helping the already slow exercise. Over and above all these obstacles, vaccine hesitancy continues even among the urban and educated. Nearly 80 days after rolling out the Covid-19 vaccination, India has vaccinated less than one crore individuals with the required two doses to protect them from the rampaging pandemic.