The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP) says no new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in Tajikistan.
As of the evening of January 4, 13,300 officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 were registered in the country; exactly the same quantity as was registered as of the evening of January 2.
According to a MoHSPP, no new coronavirus cases were reported in Tajikistan on December 31, January 1 and 3.
Meanwhile, 38 COVID-19 patients reportedly discharged after recovery yesterday. In all, 13,018 coronavirus patients have reportedly recovered in the country as of the evening of January 4, 2021.
The number of coronavirus-linked deaths remains the same in the country – 90, the MoHSPP says.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Tajikistan is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Tajikistan when its index cases, in Dushanbe and Khujand, were confirmed on April 30, 2020.
Meanwhile, media reports say India carried out a practice drill on Saturday ahead of the launch of one of the world's largest vaccination programs. The dry-run came a day before the country's Drugs Control Authority formally approved urgent-use authorization for the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine. The locally developed vaccine COVAXIN produced by Bharat Biotech was also approved for emergency use at a news conference on Sunday. Reuters reported that the first doses were set to be administered this week.
Drugs Controller General Dr. Venugopal G Somani said that both vaccines will be administered in two dosages. India becomes the third country to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after the UK and Argentina granted emergency approval earlier last week.
