Over 87.6 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India so far, says health ministry

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 87.6 crore on Tuesday, the health ministry said. It said over 49 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm and the tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports by late in the night.

The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry underlined.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of frontline workers started on February 2.


The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. Inoculation of all people aged over 45 years began on April 1.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.