New Delhi, Mar 6 (IANS): Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine as India expanded the world's biggest vaccination drive on Monday including all over 60 and those above 45 with comorbidities.

The Minister took the vaccine jab at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital. Tomar visited the RML hospital in the morning to take his first dose and appealed to everyone eligible to get themselves inoculated.

India expanded its Covid-19 vaccine coverage on March 2 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting the pace by being the first person to take a jab.

Thousands queued up at government and private medical facilities across the country as the country further opened its vaccination programme that started on January 16 for healthcare and sanitary workers.

Indigenously developed Covaxin vaccine from Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford-AstraZeneca are being administered to people in India since the inoculation drive begins here.

Besides Tomar, President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu, and his various Cabine colleagues, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, and various chief ministers have also received shots so far as the programme got underway in other places across the country with hopes that it would help control the uptick in cases in several states.