India's administered Covid vaccine doses near 200 crore-mark: Govt

New Delhi: The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country neared the 200-crore mark on Saturday, the Union health ministry said.

More than 10 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Saturday.

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

Over 14.94 lakh precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines were given to people in the 18-59 age group till 10 pm, with the majority administered for free under the government's special 75-day drive 'COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsav'.

The total number of precaution doses administered in the 18-59 age group has crossed 1,06,32,488, according to ministry data.

The 75-day drive to provide free precaution doses to all those aged 18 and above at government vaccination centres commenced on Friday.

So far, 2.81 crore vaccine doses have been administered to those aged 60 and above.

As many as 3.79 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 been given the first dose.

Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 case tally rose by 20,044 in a day to reach 4,37,30,071 while active cases increased to 1,40,760.

The death toll has climbed to 5,25,660 with 56 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Active cases increased by 1,687 in a day and now comprise 0.32 per cent of the total infections while the national recovery rate is 98.48 per cent, the ministry said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.80 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was 4.40 per cent. The total number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,30,63,651, while the case fatality rate was 1.20 per cent.

The countrywide vaccination drive 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-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.

The vaccination of all those aged above 45 began on April 1 last year. The government then decided to expand the ambit of the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above the age of 18 to be inoculated against COVID-19 from May 1 last year.

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

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

The country began inoculating children in the 12-14 age group from March 16 and also removed the comorbidity clause, making all those aged above 60 eligible for precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

India began administering precaution doses to all aged above 18 on April 10.