New Delhi, Mar 4 (IANS): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman received the first dose of her Covid vaccine at a private hospital here on Thursday.

The minister expressed her pride over the fast development of the vaccines against Covid-19 and its rollout to the public in an affordable price in the country.

Sitharaman also thanked the nurse who vaccinated her and appreciated her for the care and professionalism she showed.

"Got my first dose of the vaccination against COVID-19 this morning. Thanking sister Ramya PC, for her care and professionalism. Fortunate to be in India, where development and dissemination has been prompt and affordable," the minister tweeted.

The third phase of vaccination for senior citizens and people between the age of 45 and 59 commenced on March 1. The phase took-off with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking his first dose of Covaxin at AIIMS here, following which several political leaders are now getting inoculated.

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

The previous two phases were started with the vaccination of around three crore of healthcare and frontline workers in India.

As per the latest update, 1,66,16,048 (Thursday noon figure) doses of corona vaccines have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16.