At a press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 94 per cent of India's adults have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 72 per cent are fully vaccinated. He said 52 per cent of adolescents in the 15-18 age group have received the first dose with Andhra Pradesh topping the list with 91 per cent, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 83 per cent and Madhya Pradesh at 71 per cent.

Bhushan said 12 states and union territories including Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 100 per cent of the eligible adult population. Over 68 lakh (68,34,113) 'precaution' doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities, it said. Also, 3,94,42,385 adolescents in the 15 to 18 age group have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night, the ministry said. The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started on February 2.

The next phase of vaccination commenced from March 1 for people aged above 60 and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 from April 1. The government then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above the age of 18 to get vaccinated from May 1.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination for adolescents in the 15 to 18 age group commenced from January 3. India began administering the 'precaution' dose of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers, including personnel deployed for election duty, and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 amid a spike in infections fuelled by the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

With inputs from PTI.