<span style="color: #222222;">Union Government today said that the country's present COVID-19 active caseload now consists of just 1.51 per cent of total positive cases and recovery rate is more than 97 per cent. Briefing media in New Delhi, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, only two states- Maharashtra and Kerala with more than 40 thousand active cases contribute 75 per cent. He said, there has been a marginal increase in daily new cases in the last two weeks. The Health Secretary said, government has deputed Central teams to states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Gujarat to help the State Government in containing the surges in cases. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">On vaccination, Mr Bhushan said, more than 1.48 crores doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered till 1 p.m. today. He said, out of this, over 2.08 lakh doses have been given to people who are 45 to 59 years of age with comorbidities and people with above 60 years of age. The Health Secretary said, there are nine States and UTs where either 100 per cent or more than 90 per cent of 1st dose has been given to the registered health care workers. These include Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Ladakh, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Odisha. He said, nine States and UTs have given second dose to more than 75 per cent of eligible health care workers.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Replying to a media question, the Health Secretary said, the Centre has asked for a report from the Karnataka Government on the matter of a minister calling vaccinators to his home for vaccination.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Chairman, Empowered Group on COVID Vaccination, R.S. Sharma said, since yesterday, 50 lakh registrations have been done on CoWIN portal for COVID-19 vaccination. On technical glitches, Mr Sharma said, people should register themselves only on CoWIN portal or through Aarogya Setu App  which has got an extension for CoWIN and not on any other App. He said, there is also a facility for cancelling the appointment or rescheduling it on the portal. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr Shrama said that when the registered person receives the vaccines at the decided Vaccination Centre, the person will automatically get the scheduled date for the second dose of vaccine at the same centre. He said, there are no glitches on the system for registration yesterday and the government is monitoring the scalability of the system. Mr Sharma also informed that around 46 to 47 thousand hospitals have been roped in for the vaccination of the third prioritized group. He said, out of them, around 12 thousand 500 are private hospitals, 11 thousand are Ayushman Bharat empanelled hospitals and 800 are CGHS empanelled hospitals.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Member (Health) in NITI Aayog Dr V. K. Paul said, with the launch of the vaccination for third prioritised groups the vaccination coverage has become more wide which will help in breaking the chain of transmission of infection. He urged people to take both doses compulsorily at the scheduled time as without the second dose the whole vaccination process will not be complete. In view of surge in cases in certain states, Dr Paul advised people to avoid gatherings and follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour. He said, it is a matter of satisfaction that India has the least COVID-19 mortality rate in the world. </span>