New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS): Since the beginning of vaccination drive for children aged between 15 and 18 years on January 3, over 3 crore teens of this age bracket have been vaccinated with the first dose so far.

According to the CoWIN portal, as of now total 3,06,60,329 teens have been vaccinated and the numbers are increasing every minute. However, total 3,21,63,781 youngsters of this age group have registered themselves for the vaccines till now.

"Great sense of responsibility & enthusiasm among Young India. Over 3 crore youngsters between the 15-18 age group have received 1st dose of the COVID19 vaccine", said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a tweet on Thursday. He also appealed to all eligible young beneficiaries to get vaccinated at the earliest.

As per an estimation, around 7.50 crore teens of this age bracket are to be administered with vaccine. Out of total, over three crore have received their first dose of the vaccine so far. As of now only Bharat Biotech's indigenously-made 'Covaxin' is available for vaccinating this age group.

According to the health ministry, additional doses of Covaxin have been sent to all the states and union territories for administering the vaccine to this population category.

According to the Union Health Ministry data, over 26,73,385 precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities. With the administration of over 76 lakh (76,32,024) vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 154.61 crore.