NEW DELHI -- Filled with optimism and anxiety, health care providers lined up to receive the first COVID-19 vaccine injections at a government hospital in the Indian capital on Jan. 16, the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off a massive immunization drive aimed at inoculating 300 million people.
"I'm taking the plunge as it provides me with a sense of security," said an anesthetist, 35, who asked that her name not be used. The woman worries about her family as she works in the hospital's COVID-19 intensive care unit and thus remains at high risk for infection and potentially passing on the coronavirus at home, including to her three-year-old son.