NCP chief Sharad Pawar, his wife & MP daughter on March 1 received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a civic hospital in Maharashtra. The former Union minister was administered "Covishield" vaccine, which is manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) in collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, he said. On March 1, the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive began nationwide. People above 60 years of age & those over 45 years with comorbidities will be able to get COVID-19 vaccine for free at government facilities and for a charge at many private hospitals. Doctors from the Medanta hospital administered the vaccine to Amit Shah, a Home Ministry official said. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also received the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine. Former minister of finance & external affairs Yashwant Sinha also took the shot on March 1. Omar Abdullah tweeted saying that his father Farooq Abdullah got the first shot of the vaccine. With 15,510 fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,11,12,241, while the number of recoveries has surged to 1,07,86,457, the Union health ministry said on March 1.