Over 13L Covid booster jabs administered to people in 18-59 age group

Over 13.3 lakh precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered to beneficiaries in the age group of 18-59 years till 10 pm on Friday, with a majority of those being free under a special 75-day drive launched by the government.

The "COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsav" to provide free precaution doses of the vaccines to everyone aged 18 years and above at government vaccination centres commenced on Friday.

The drive, aimed at boosting the uptake of precaution doses among the eligible population, is being held as part of the government's "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" to celebrate 75 years of the country's independence.

The total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has gone past 199.69 crore.

More than 20 lakh (20,98,849) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Friday. The daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

The total number of precaution doses given to the beneficiaries in the 18-59 age group has crossed 90 lakh, according to the Union health ministry.

The number of vaccine doses given to the beneficiaries aged 60 years and above has gone past 2.78 crore.

So far, over 3.78 crore children in the 12-14 age group have been administered the first dose, while more than 6.08 crore adolescents in the 15-18 age group have received the first dose.

The countrywide vaccination drive against the viral disease was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers 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.

Vaccination of all people aged above 45 years began on April 1 last year. The Centre then decided to expand the ambit of the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against Covid from May 1 last year.

The inoculation of adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years commenced on January 3 this year.

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

The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 from March 16 and also removed the comorbidity clause, making everyone aged above 60 years eligible to receive the precaution dose.

On April 10, India began administering the precaution doses of the vaccines to everyone aged above 18 years.