Covid-19 pandemic: Over 1.59 billion jabs administered till date, says govt

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 159.54 crore (1.59 billion) on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated.

More than 62 lakh (62,39,005) vaccine doses were administered in the day till 7 pm.

Over 61 lakh precaution doses have been administered to frontline workers, healthcare workers, and citizens aged 60 and above, the ministry stated.

A total of 3,82,93,986 doses have been given to adolescents in the age group of 15 to 18 years, according to the health ministry's interim data.

The government rolled out the countrywide vaccination drive on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting jabbed in the first phase.

From February 2, this was extended to frontline workers.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1, 2021, for people above 60 years, and those aged 45 and above but with specified co-morbid conditions.

All citizens aged 45 and above were eligible for the jab from April 1.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing all citizens above 18 years to get vaccinated from May 1.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

India began administering the precaution dose to healthcare workers, frontline workers, including personnel deployed for election duty, and those aged 60 years and above with co-morbidities from January 10 even as the country began witnessing a spike in infections fuelled by the Omicron variant of the virus.