Brasilia, Nov 20 (IANS): Brazil has administered more than 300 million shots of Covid-19 vaccines since launching its vaccination campaign in January 2021, the Health Ministry has said.

Some 157.6 million people have received a first dose, and 129.8 million are fully vaccinated, having received either both doses or a single-dose vaccine, representing 73.3 per cent of the target population, Xinhua news agency reported.

"With this milestone, we can say that the Covid-19 vaccination campaign is the largest this country has ever seen," said Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga.

The Ministry on Friday said the South American country has distributed more than 360.6 million vaccine doses to Brazilian states.

On Saturday, the government will step up its campaign with the goal of having 85 per cent of the population fully vaccinated.

The Ministry announced this week that the booster shot is now available to everyone above 18 years, and 12.7 million people have already received it.