India has given out a record five million vaccine doses under a federal campaign to inoculate all adults for free after weeks of criticism that a chaotic rollout had worsened a second wave that killed hundreds of thousands.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government would buy 7 per cent of all vaccines from drug makers and distribute those for free to states, which along with private hospitals, had earlier been buying shots for people aged 18-45.

“It marks the beginning of the end of adversities related to Covid-19 in the country,” Giridhara Babu, a member of the Indian Council of Medical Research, the country's main health research agency, told Reuters.