Over 175.33 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in country

New Delhi, Feb 19 (PTI) The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 175.33 crore on Saturday, the Union health ministry said.

More than 27 lakh (27,47,926) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm.

The ministry also said that over 1.89 crore (1,89,07,829) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities.

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 country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.

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 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

India began administering precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to HCWs and FLWs, 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. PTI PLB ANB ANB