New Delhi, May 15 (IANS): The cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 18 crore on Saturday under the Phase-3 of the nationwide vaccination drive.

A total of 18,04,57,579 vaccine doses have been administered through 26,02,435 sessions, Union Health Ministry's provisional report till 7 a.m. on Saturday reveals.

These vaccine doses include 96,27,650 Healthcare Workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 66,22,040 HCWs who have been administered the second dose.

Of the total, 1,43,65,871 Frontline Workers (FLWs) have so far received the first dose and 81,49,613 FLWs have got the second dose. A total of 42,58,756 beneficiaries under 18-45 age group have so far received the first dose.

The beneficiaries aged between 45-60 years of age include 5,68,05,772 first dose receivers and 87,56,313 who have got their second dose too. A total of 5,43,17,646 first dose beneficiaries and 1,75,53,918 second dose beneficiaries are of more than 60 years old.

Ten states account for 66.73 per cent of the cumulative doses given so far in the country. Maharashtra tops among these states with 1,94,69,673 doses received so far followed by Rajasthan (1,48,52,400), Gujarat (1,47,99, 737), Uttar Pradesh (1,45,68,875), West Bengal (1,25,01,020), Karnataka (1,10,65,841), Madhya Pradesh (89,64,972), Bihar (85,49,713), Kerala (82,26,138) and Andhra Pradesh (74,28,976).

A total of 3,28,216 beneficiaries of the age group of 18-44 years received their first dose of Covid vaccine in the last 24 hours and cumulatively 42,58,756 across 32 tates and UTs since the start of phase-3 of vaccination drive.

More than 11 lakh vaccination doses were administered in the last 24 hours. Across 11,628 sessions, 6,29,445 beneficiaries were vaccinated for first dose and 4,74,180 beneficiaries received their second dose of vaccine.