India's Omicron tally on Sunday crossed the 1500-mark while the COVID-19 tally reached 3,48,89,132 with the addition of 27,553 new positive cases, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated at 8 am.

As per the Ministry, India's Omicron infection tally reached 1,525, of which 560 patients have either recovered or migrated.

The COVID-19 death toll in the country surged to 4,81,770 with 284 more fatalities, while 9,249 new recoveries pushed the cumulative number of recovered cases to 3,42,84,561. With these recoveries, there are 1,22,801 active cases in India, accounting for less than 1 per cent of the total cases.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of Omicron cases with 460 cases, followed by Delhi with 351 and Gujarat with 136. The other Omicron cases include, 117 in Tamil Nadu, 109 in Kerala, 69 in Rajasthan, 67 in Telangana, 64 in Karnataka, 63 in Haryana, 20 in West Bengal, 17 in Andhra Pradesh, 14 in Odisha, nine in Madhya Pradesh, eight cases each in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, three each in Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir, two in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and one each in Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Manipur and Punjab.

Meanwhile, a total of 145.44 crore Covid vaccine doses have so far been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India will begin vaccination for the age-group 15-18 years from Monday, January 3, while administration of "precautionary dose" for the vulnerable categories is to commence from January 10, 2022. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has informed that only ‘Covaxin’ is to be administered in this population category.

Potential beneficiaries can either register themselves on Co-WIN from January 1 or avail of a walk-in registration when vaccination commences from January 3.