Covid-19: Total 158.74 crore vaccine doses administered; Over 3.7 crore in 15-18 age group get first dose

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country have reached 158.74 crore so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

A total of 3,70,32,672 doses have been given to adolescents in the age group of 15 to 18 years, according to the ministry data.

More than 65 lakh (65,85,945) vaccine doses were administered till 7 PM on Tuesday.

Over 56 lakh (56,42,395) precaution doses have been administered to frontline workers, healthcare workers and citizens aged 60 and above with comorbidities so far.

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, 2021.

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.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1, 2021. 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 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 this year amid the country witnessing a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by Omicron variant of the virus.