INDIAN authorities ordered 300 million doses of an unapproved Covid-19 vaccine today as the nation continues to struggle with its severe outbreak.

The unnamed vaccine from Indian firm Biological E is in phase-three trials and is showing “promising results,” according to the federal government.

The 300 million doses cost approximately $206 million (£145m). The vaccine is likely to become available in the next few months, according to the government.

India has administered only about 220 million jabs so far despite the majority of its almost 1.4 billion population being eligible.

Less than 10 per cent of the country has received at least one dose due to severe shortages and the high number of cases.

The number of infections has been dropping but the country is still recording more than 100,000 new cases each day.

Official data suggests that India has recorded more than 340,000 Covid-19 deaths so far, but experts have warned that the figure could be substantially higher.

India is currently administering two of its own vaccines – Covishield by the Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and the government’s Council of Medical Research – as well as the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.

Due to its ongoing crisis, India has not been able to provide nationally made vaccinations to the global Covax vaccine access initiative.

This week World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated concerns that Western nations have vaccinated high percentages of their people while even health workers in some poorer countries remain unprotected.

“Of the 1.8 billion vaccines administered globally just 0.4 per cent have been administered in low-income countries,” he said.

“This is ethically, epidemiologically and economically unacceptable.”