Fort and Hedlund determined the minimum size of a $(v,3,2)$-covering design: Minimal coverings of pairs by triples, Pacific J. Math. 8(4), 709-719, 1958.
The case $(v,4,2)$ was solved by Mills: On the covering of pairs by quadruples I, JCTA 13, 55–78, 1972 and II, JCTA 15, 138–166 (1973).
Caro and Yuster proved that for sufficiently large $v$ the minimum size of a $(v,k,2)$ covering design is $\left\lceil\frac{v}{k}\left\lceil \frac{v-1}{k-1}\right\rceil\right\rceil$: Covering Graphs: The Covering Problem Solved, JCTA 83 (2) 273–282, 1998.
The La Jolla Covering repository is a good source for covering designs. According to this table the smallest open case with $t=2$ is $(v,k,t)=(23,6,2)$ where the minimum size is either 20 or 21.