Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his second dose of coronavirus vaccine Thursday, posting a photo on Twitter from the vaccination site in New Delhi as daily case numbers hit a record high.
Authorities Thursday reported more than 126,000 new infections in India over the last 24 hours, the countrys highest-ever spike in new daily cases. Some 55,000 of those cases were reported in the hard-hit state of Maharashtra.
Indias total confirmed caseload has now reached nearly 13 million and the populous South Asian nation has emerged as a global pandemic hotspot in recent months, trailing only the United States and Brazil.
At least 166,000 people have died due to covid-19 in India since the pandemic began.
The surge there has been driven by more relaxed social distancing measures and the spread of new variants, experts say. Last month, Indias Health Ministry announced it had detected a new double mutant variant in Maharashtra, home to the countrys financial capital, Mumbai. But authorities have downplayed the variants role in surging new infections.
This week local health officials also raised the alarm over potential vaccine shortages, including in Maharashtra where the state Health Minister said authorities would run out of doses in just three days.
India is a major global vaccine producer but was forced to halt exports due to rising infections. The Health Ministry says that it has administered 90 million doses so far, out of a population of more than 1.3 billion.
In the United States, some 30.8 million people have been infected by the virus. More than 558,000 Americans have died due to covid-19.
