Over 181 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India so far: Govt

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed 181.19 crore on Saturday, the Union Health Ministry said.

It said more than 13 lakh (13,63,853) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm.

Over 16 lakh (16,76,515) COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the 12-14 years age group so far, the ministry said.

More than 2.17 crore (2,17,30,449) precaution doses have so far been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged above 60.

The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night.

The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry said.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, 2021, with the healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of the frontline workers started from February 2 last year.

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

India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 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 last year.

The next phase of Covid vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

India began administering precaution doses of the vaccines to the healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year.

The inoculation of children aged 12-14 started from March 16 this year. PTI PLB CK