In 15-18 years age group, over 80% got first vaccine dose: Mandaviya

New Delhi: Over 80 per cent of people aged between 15 and 18 years have received the first dose of the Covid vaccine, Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday.

The total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in India exceeded 192.52 crore till 7 am on Tuesday, according to a provisional report.

The Covid vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on March 16 and so far more than 3.30 crore adolescents in this age group have been administered the first dose.

"Young India is taking the world's largest vaccination drive to new heights! Over 80 per cent of youngsters between the 15-18 age group have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine," Mandaviya tweeted.

India's Covid case tally rose by 1,675 to reach 4,31,40,068, while the number of active infections increased marginally to 14,841, according to the Union Health ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll has climbed to 5,24,490 with 31 fatalities reported from Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Active cases, which rose by nine in a day, comprised 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate was 98.75 per cent, the health ministry said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.41 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was 0.49 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,26,00,737, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent.

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 on February 2 last year.

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