COVID-19: India’s vaccination drive crosses 117-crore milestone

New Delhi: In a milestone achievement, the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India has crossed 117 crore, informed the Central government on Tuesday. “India has administered more than 117 crore COVID vaccines under the world’s largest vaccine drive so far,” the government of India said in a tweet. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday, more than 63 lakh (63,98,165) vaccine doses were administered to beneficiaries till 7 pm on Monday, it said, adding that the daily vaccination tally is likely to increase with the compilation of the final reports by late night.

 The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16 January with the healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase and the drive for frontline workers (FLWs) began from 2 February.

The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 1 March for people over 60 years of age. The government started the vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from 1 April and the vaccination for everyone above 18 years of age commenced from 1 May. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advanced visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Central government has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them COVID vaccines free of cost.