NEW DELHI: The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 171 crore on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry said.
More than 44 lakh (44,08,918) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday.
More than 1.60 crore (1,60,95,273) precaution doses have been administered so far to healthcare workers, frontline workers 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.
In a landmark achievement, more than 1 crore youngsters between the age group of 15 to 18 years have been successfully administered with both the doses of the vaccine.
Expressing his pleasure, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted that it is a historic feat by young India that over 1 crore youngsters between 15 to 18 years age group have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase.
Th vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2 last year.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1, 2021.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1, 2021.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination has commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.
India began administering precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers, including personnel deployed for election duty and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities, from January 10 amid the country witnessing a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by Omicron variant.
Over one crore adolescents in the 15-18 years age group nationwide are now fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus infection, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday.
Over 5.04 crore beneficiaries in this age group have been administered the first dose of vaccine.
"What a historic feat by Young India! Over 1 crore youngsters between 15-18 age group are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19," Mandaviya tweeted.
With the administration of more than 53.61 lakh vaccine doses in a span of 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 170.87 crore (1,70,87,06,705), according to provisional reports till 7 am.
As per the Registrar General of India (RGI), the estimated population of beneficiaries in the age group of 15-18 years is 7.4 crore for 2021-22.
Vaccination of children in the age group of 15-18 years began from January 3 across the country.