India Faces Covid-19 Vaccine Shortage as Cases Surge

NEW DELHI—Hospitals in the middle of some hot spots in India are running out of vaccines as infections have skyrocketed, triggering a rush to get inoculated.

Hospitals in Mumbai and elsewhere are facing growing lines of people wanting shots and having to turn them away. Some people are going from hospital to hospital trying to get a vaccine. Some have started protests.

India has become the epicenter for the global pandemic as the number of new cases a day shot up to more than 120,000 this week from less than 20,000 last month. That is more than any other country this week and higher than the first wave of infections that peaked in India in September.

The surge has increased demand for the vaccine. Some vaccination centers are now dealing with long lines and running out of doses before everyone gets their shots.

South Mumbai resident Darius Lam tried to take his elderly parents to two different hospitals on Thursday morning only to get turned away. A third hospital had doses, and they were only able to get them because their ages let them avoid a long line of people.