India orders 300 million doses of vaccines after court rebuke

India ordered 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine being developed by a local manufacturer, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government comes under pressure from the nation’s Supreme Court to cover more of the population.

Hyderabad-based Biological-E Ltd. will be paid an advance of 15 billion rupees ($205 million), the government said in a statement Thursday. Phase 3 trials of the vaccine are currently on and the firm will prepare the shots between August and December. The Supreme Court this week asked Modi’s administration to prepare a vaccination policy that prices the shots equally for all and protects the poor. India’s plans have had a rough ride, starting from Modi’s much-lauded vaccine diplomacy during a brief lull between the first and far deadlier second coronavirus waves, to the current shortage for Indian citizens.