Rome, Jul 20 (IANS): Over half 50 per cent of Italy's targeted population have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the Health Ministry.

Till date, over 27 million people have received two vaccine doses, which equals 50.21 per cent of the population aged over 12, Xinhua news agency quoted the mInistry as saying.

The country has used 61.5 million doses of the four coronavirus vaccines currently authorized -- Pfizer/BioNTech, Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca), Moderna and Janssen.

After a slow start in early January 2021, the vaccination campaign gained steam in spring.

Considering both the fully immuniaed and those who received at least one dose, the largest group is those aged between 50 and 59 with 12.5 million vaccine doses administered, followed by those in the 60-69 age group, 70-79 age group, 40-49 age group, according to separate government statistics.

Meanwhile, the country is witnessing a fresh spike in coronavirus infections after several weeks of decrease, which the National Health Institute (ISS) has mainly ascribed to the effects of the Delta variant.

While the number of new infections has been on the increase, no significant jump has been reported in the number of deaths and hospitalisations.

Overall, Italy has reported 4,289,528 coronavirus cases so far and 127,874 fatalities.