Last checked at 
* India has exported 59 mln vaccine doses
* India has immunised 33 mln people at home
* Infections topped 20,000 for six days in a row
* Total cases at 11.41 mln, with 158,856 deaths
(Adds details)
By Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI, March 16 (Reuters) - India's main opposition
Congress party on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's government for exporting nearly twice the number of
coronavirus vaccine doses than immunisations conducted at home,
despite a surge in infections.
India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, has gifted or sold
https://www.mea.gov.in/vaccine-supply.htm 59 million locally
produced doses compared with 33 million doses given to its own
people since its inoculation campaign began in mid-January.
While some rich countries such as the United States are
being accused of vaccine nationalism, India is being lauded
globally for sending shots to 71 countries, mainly the
AstraZeneca vaccine as well as some of Bharat Biotech's
homegrown product.
Many Indians, however, now want the government to make
vaccines available to more of its own people instead of only the
elderly and those above 45 suffering from health conditions.
"The priority of the Modi government is not the state but
foreign nations," Congress said on Twitter, using the tag
#IndiaNeedsMoreVaccines and accusing the premier of focusing on
"PR over people".
"The pace of vaccination in states is slow due to the
centralisation in vaccine distribution," it said.
BALANCE BEING STRUCK
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told parliament that vaccines
were not being exported at the "expense of the people of India"
and that a balance was being struck.
India's immunisation drive has picked up significantly since
Modi expanded it this month. Still, Bangladesh is vaccinating
more people relative to its population using India-made shots.
India plans to vaccinate 300 million of its 1.35 billion
people by August.
It reported 24,492 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the
sixth straight day of more than 20,000 infections.
Total cases have now risen to 11.41 million, the highest
after the United States and Brazil. Deaths increased by 131 to
158,856 in the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry
showed.
The government has blamed crowding and a general reluctance
to wear masks for the spike, ruling out mutations of the virus
as a factor, unlike in the West.
India's worst-affected state, Maharashtra, has ordered
cinemas, hotels and restaurants to limit guests to half of
capacity until the end of the month. Weddings and other social
events will also have limited attendance.
Maharashtra has also locked down some districts.
Another western state, Gujarat, has decided not to allow
fans into the world's biggest cricket stadium hosting
international matches https://www.reuters.com/article/cricket-t20-ind-eng/india-v-england-t20-games-to-go-behind-closed-doors-due-to-covid-19-idUSKBN2B72CF
between India and England, after seeing a spurt in cases.
The initial matches were attended by tens of thousands of
people sitting or standing shoulder to shoulder, with few
wearing masks, leading to widespread criticism on social media.
(Additional reporting by Chandini Monnappa and Rajendra Jadhav;
Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Gareth Jones)
