India, a vast country with an underfunded health care system, would have struggled to contain the second wave no matter what, as a more contagious new variant fuelled the spread and people stopped wearing masks
A woman winces as she receives a COVID-19 vaccination in Mohammadpur Kadeen, a village in the state of Utter Pradesh, India, on June 4, 2021. The country’s top science agency tailored its findings to fit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s optimistic narrative despite a looming crisis, researchers say; Image: Atul Loke/The New York Times
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