India’s government has urged states and union territories to accelerate Covid-19 vaccinations after a review found “substantial” room for speeding up the programme.

India started what it says in the world’s biggest vaccination programme on January 16, aiming to reach 300 million people by July-August, Reuters reported.

Twelve states and union territories have vaccinated 60pc of their healthcare workers so far but many need to improve their performance, the government said after a review by the federal health secretary.

It said in a statement there remains “substantial scope for improvement in the number of average vaccinations per vaccination session".