Total Covid-19 vaccine doses given in India crosses 155.28 crore

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 155.28 crore on Thursday with more than 63 lakh doses being given till 7 pm, the Union Health Ministry said.

More than 33,12,573 precaution doses have been administered so far to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities.

Also, 3,12,89,109 first doses have been given to beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group so far.

Till 7 pm on Thursday, 63,92,572 vaccine doses were administered. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2 last year.

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

Vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years began from April 1, 2021. The government then decided to expand its drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1 last year.

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 precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers including personnel deployed for election duty and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 amid the country witnessing a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by Omicron variant of the virus.