New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 174 crore on Wednesday, the Union health ministry said.

More than 31 lakh (31,12,641) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday, it said.

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So far, over 1.82 crore (1,82,01,563) precaution doses have been given to healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) 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 ministry said.

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The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with HCWs getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of FLWs started from February 2.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people aged above 60 and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 from April 1.

The government then decided to expand the inoculation drive by allowing everyone above 18 to get vaccinated from May 1.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination for adolescents in the 15-18 age group commenced from January 3 this year.

India began administering the 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 a spike in coronavirus infections 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)