Ninety per cent of India's adult population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Monday, as the total number of vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 198 crore.
More than 10 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Monday, according to health ministry data.
The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night.
In a tweet, Mandaviya said, "What an extraordinary feat! With PM @NarendraModi Ji's mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayas, India achieves complete vaccination of 90% of its adult population. Way to go! We will win the battle against the pandemic together!"
So far, 6,057,990 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to those in the 18-59 age group, the ministry said.
Over 3.69 crore children in the 12-14 age group have been administered the first dose and more than 6.05 crore adolescents in the 15-18 age group have been given the first dose, it said.
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.
The next phase commenced on March 1 for people aged above 60 and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.
The vaccination of all people aged above 45 began on April 1. The government then decided to expand the vaccination drive to cover everyone aged above 18 from May 1.
The inoculation of adolescents in the 15-18 age group started from January 3 this year.
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 the precaution dose.
On April 10, India began administering precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all aged above 18.
