Over 1.84 billion Covid vaccine doses administered in India: Govt

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 184 crore on Wednesday, according to the Union health ministry.

More than 19 lakh (19,24,770) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

Over 1.59 crore (1,59,51,459) vaccine doses have so far been administered to beneficiaries in the age group of 12-14 years, it said.

More than 2.3 crore (2,30,03,879) precaution doses of the vaccines have been given to healthare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) and those aged 60 years and above.

The countrywide vaccination drive against the viral disease was rolled out on January 16 last year, with the HCWs getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of the FLWs started from February 2 last year.

The next phase of Covid vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last year.

The Centre then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the disease from May 1 last year.

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

The country began administering precaution doses of the vaccines to the HCWs, the FLWs and those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year.

The inoculation of children aged 12-14 started from March 16.