India’s death toll surpassed 400,000 on Friday as the nation tries to recover from a devastating spring outbreak fueled by a coronavirus variant that is wreaking havoc around the world.
Officials say 400,312 people have died out of 30 million infections in the Asian country, though that is assuredly a vast undercount after regions had a hard time tracking the chaotic crush of cases earlier this year.
The U.S. has the highest official toll, at more than 605,000.
India is recovering from the peak of its crisis but the delta variant detected within its borders spread far and wide, spawning an outbreak in southwestern Missouri and European countries.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the variant is likely to become dominant in the coming weeks.
“There are communities that are vulnerable and where we are now seeing surges in cases, and indeed also hospitalizations, due to what could be the spread of the delta variant and low vaccination rates in these communities,” she told reporters Thursday.
Johnson & Johnson reported clinical data Thursday showing its vaccine provided robust protection against severe disease from the delta variant, soothing those who feared they got a bad deal by opting for the one-shot version instead of the messenger-RNA shots.
“Our authorized vaccines provide protection against the circulating variants in this country, including delta,” Dr. Walenksy said. “Vaccination is how we protect these individuals, families, and communities, and prevent severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19.”
