Indian PM Modi announces free COVID-19 vaccines for all adults

FILE PHOTO: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, India, January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that the Indian federal government would provide COVID-19 vaccines free of charge to all adults from later this month in an effort to turn the tide of a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands in India.

Modi said in a televised address that the federal government would take over the task of vaccination from state governments.