India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Thursday that the country's health workers have now administered more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines doses.
Of note: While this is a significant milestone for the country of 1.4 billion, which has been devastated by the coronavirus, only about 30% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated against the virus, per AP. Roughly 75% have received at least one dose.
The big picture: Case numbers in India have declined in recent months, and pandemic restrictions that had a significant impact on the economy and forced millions of people to rely on government food handouts and other subsidies have eased.
- But there's concern the current vaccination rate leaves the country vulnerable to another catastrophic wave like the one that struck earlier this year, per Bloomberg.
- Modi's government hopes to have all adults vaccinated against the coronavirus by the year's end.
Go deeper: India approves world's first DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Modi's team.
