India News | Over 187 Crore Covid Vaccine Doses Administered in India: Govt

New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 187 crore on Wednesday, according to the Union health ministry.

More than 13 lakh (13,69,541) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

Also Read | DSSSB Recruitment 2022: Notification Released For 168 Posts At dsssb.delhi.gov.in; Check Details Here.

Over 24,459 precaution doses of the Covid vaccines were administered to beneficiaries in the age group of 18-59 years till 7 pm on Wednesday, taking the total number of such doses given in this age group to 2,35,786, according to the health ministry's data.

India began administering the precaution doses of the vaccines to all aged above 18 years from private vaccination centres on April 10.

Also Read | Sharad Pawar Residence Attack: Mumbai Court Sends Lawyer Gunaratna Sadavarte to 14-Day Judicial Custody.

Those above the age of 18 and who have completed nine months since the administration of the second dose of the vaccines are eligible to receive the precaution dose.

The countrywide vaccination drive against the viral disease was rolled out on January 16 last year with the healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2 last year.

The next phase of Covid vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last year. The Centre then decided to expand the 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 vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

India began administering the precaution doses of the vaccines to the HCWs, FLWs and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year.

The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 from March 16 and also removed the comorbidity clause, making all people aged above 60 eligible for the precaution dose.

(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)