Last checked at 
* India reports 161,736 new infections, total at 13.7 mln
* Deaths rise by 879 to 171,058
* India has administered more than 106 mln vaccine doses
(Adds details,)
By Alasdair Pal and Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI, April 13 (Reuters) - India is to fast-track
emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been
authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for
possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson,
and Moderna shots.
The move, which will drop the need for companies to do
small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking
emergency approval, follows the world's biggest surge in cases
in the country this month.
Vaccines authorised by the World Health Organization or
authorities in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and
Japan "may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating
the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical
trial", the health ministry said in a statement.
"The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall
be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before they are
rolled out."
India, the world's biggest maker of vaccines, has
administered more than 106 million doses of COVID-19 shots, but
many regions are now running short of supplies as inoculations
expand due to surging cases.
India has sold more than 54.6 million vaccine doses abroad
and gifted more than 10 million to partner countries.
It is currently using the AstraZeneca shot and a
homegrown vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech for its own
immunisation drive, and this week approved Russia's Sputnik V
shot for emergency use.
Since April 2, India has reported the world's highest daily
tallies of infections, topping 100,000 last week. It reported
161,736 cases on Tuesday, taking the total to 13.7 million.
Deaths rose by 879 to 171,058.
RALLIES, RELIGIOUS EVENTS
The jump in infections, for which Health Minister Harsh
Vardhan acknowledged widespread failure by citizens to heed
curbs on movement and social interaction as contributory
factors, has prompted calls for the government to cancel huge
public events.
But hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus are set to bathe
in the Ganges river on Wednesday, the third key day of a
weeks-long festival.
Nearly a million bathed in the Ganges on Monday in the
belief that its waters would wash away their sins. More than 100
tested positive for COVID-19, in random testing of around 18,000
attendees testing carried out by authorities, local media said.
Few at the mass religious gathering called the Kumbh Mela -
or pitcher festival - observed precautions such as social
distancing or mask wearing, Reuters witnesses said, and hundreds
of thousands more are expected to plunge into the waters in the
northern city of Haridwar on Wednesday.
Similar concerns were sparked by mass election rallies by
the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition parties during
polls in four states and one federally-run region. At one rally
in the eastern state of West Bengal, a key political prize, Home
Minister Amit Shah posted Twitter pictures of meetings with
crowds of supporters while unmasked.
DEADLY SPREAD
The second wave of infections, which began in India's major
cities, is increasingly spreading into the hinterland, where
healthcare facilities are often rudimentary.
In Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh state known for its
large tribal population, the main government hospital's morgue
was struggling to keep up with the number of deaths, said joint
director Dr Vineet Jain.
"All oxygenated and ICU beds are full in our set up," he
told Reuters.
"Around 50 dead bodies are laying, we have a shortage of
space. Some private hospitals do not have space to keep the dead
bodies so they also send the bodies to us."
Vardhan cited several reasons for the national surge.
"There have been elections, religious gatherings, reopening
of offices, lots of people travelling, attending social
functions, not following rules, little mask-wearing in functions
like weddings, even on crowded buses and trains," he told a
video conference last week.
India is currently reporting around double the daily cases
of the United States and Brazil, the two other worst affected
countries, though its daily death toll is lower.
India's total infections rank after only the United States,
having overtaken Brazil on Monday.
(Global vaccination tracker: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/)
(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus:
https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/)
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Alasdair Pal in New Delhi and
Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar; Editing by Nick Macfie, Ana
Nicolaci da Costa and John Stonestreet)
