New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) Over 26,700 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the 18-59 years age-group on the second day, taking the cumulative doses given in this age group to 36,428 so far, the Union health ministry said on Monday.

India had on Sunday began administering the precaution doses to all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres.

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All those above the age of 18 who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose are eligible for the precaution dose.

More than 14 lakh (14,01,647) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on Monday, taking the cumulative number of doses to over 185.88 crore doses.

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

More than 2.26 crore (2,26,73,322) vaccine doses have been given in the 12-14 years age group so far.

Over 2.45 crore (2,45,59,207) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and to those aged 60 and above so far.

A total of 9,674 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the 18-59 years age group on Sunday.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of 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 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 vaccination commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

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

(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)