New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 172.75 crore on Saturday, the Union health ministry said.

More than 44 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Saturday, the ministry 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 1.72 crore precaution doses have so far been administered to healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) and those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities, 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.

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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 more than 45 years from April 1 last year.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone aged above 18 years 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.

The country began administering the precaution dose of the Covid vaccines to the HCWs, the FLWs including the personnel deployed on poll 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)