New Delhi, Mar 2 (IANS): Around 50 lakh people have self-registered for vaccination through CoWIN since the portal was opened for registration, Ram Sevak Sharma, chairman of the empowered panel on Covid vaccination, said on Tuesday.

"The actual numbers could vary up to 2 crore since the portal can register four beneficiaries with just one mobile number. We count only the mobile numbers, so I think the figures may be more than that," he said while addressing a press briefing of the Union Health Ministry.

Earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had told reporters that around 40 lakh people had registered on Co-WIN till Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, clarifying the glitches being reported about Co-WIN, Sharma said that the portal is equipped to handle a large number of users at a time. He clarified that the glitches occurred since people started downloading the mobile application of Co-WIN, which is only available to the administrators.

"This made the app slow for one or two hours, but it picked up pace later," Sharma added.

Meanwhile, as many as 2,08,791 doses of Covid vaccine have administered to people above 60 years of age and the 45+ population with comorbidities, taking the total doses administered so far to 1,48,55,073, the Health Ministry informed.

The cumulative figures include 93,03,048 healthcare workers and 53,43,219, it added.

The Phase 3 of Covid vaccination covering 27 crore people above the age of 60 years and those above 45 with comorbidities started on Monday. Around three crore healthcare and frontline workers were vaccinated in the first two phases of the vaccination drive.

Vaccines are being provided free of charge at the government institutions and on a payment basis in the private healthcare facilities. All private hospitals can charge Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 as service charges, as fixed by the Central government.