India's hardest-hit state battles vaccine shortages

People stand outside the gate of a vaccination centre after hearing news of shortage of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine supplies, in Mumbai, India

Leading hospitals in India's most coronavirus-hit state halted vaccinations Friday, citing shortages as infections across the country crossed 13 million and set a new daily record. The nation of 1.3 billion is confronting a ferocious second wave that has triggered its fastest infection rate since the pandemic began, with nearly 132,000 cases recorded in the past 24 hours. In financial and film hub Mumbai, 25 out of 71 private hospitals administering jabs ran out of supplies Thursday, city authorities said. The situation at government-run inoculation centres was not much better, with a giant 1,000-bed field hospital turning away people arriving for their first dose on Friday morning.