New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country is nearing 172 crore, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.

More than 43 lakh (43,78,909) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Thursday, it said, adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

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More than 1.64 crore (1,64,61,231) precaution doses of the vaccines have been administered to the healthcare workers (HCWs), the frontline workers (FLWs)and those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities.

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.

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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 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 the precaution dose of the 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 amid a spike in the number of coronavirus cases fuelled by its Omicron variant.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)