The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 162.77 crore on Monday, the Union Health Ministry said. More than 49 lakh (49,52,290) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm, taking the total number of doses to 1,62,77,06,092.
More than 87 lakh (87,33,359) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities. Also 4,25,44,326 adolescents in the 15-18 years age group have received the first dose.
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 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination has commenced from January 3 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.
With inputs from PTI.