India begins vaccinating teens as virus cases spike

Indian health authorities Monday began vaccinating teens in the age group of 15 to 18, as more states started to enforce tighter restrictions to arrest a new surge stoked by the infectious omicron variant.

State governments across India administered doses at schools, hospitals and through special vaccination sites amid a rapid rise in coronavirus infections, particularly in the country's densely populated cities. India confirmed over 33,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The current surge in cases, including those of the omicron variant, is largely concentrated in India's big cities like Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai. Authorities are saying that even as cases have started to rise rapidly, hospitalizations have not gone up.