Over 169 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in India, says Govt

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 169 crore on Saturday, the Union health ministry said. More than 40 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Saturday, it said, adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

More than 1.46 crore (1,46,98,311) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) and those aged 60 years and above, the ministry said. 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 FLWs started from February 2 last year.

The next phase of Covid vaccination commenced from March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 years and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last year. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease 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. The country began administering the precaution doses of the Covid vaccines to the HCWs, the FLWs including the personnel deployed on election duty and those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year amid a spike in the number of coronavirus cases fuelled by its Omicron variant.