The number of officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tajikistan is nearing 13,000.

According to the data from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP), 38 new officially confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in Tajikistan yesterday, bringing a total number of the officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country to 12,998 as of the evening of December 21.  

The number of coronavirus-linked deaths remains the same in the country – 89, a MoHSPP says.

42 COVID-19 patients were reportedly discharged after recovery yesterday.  In all, 12,455 (95.8 percent) coronavirus patients have reportedly recovered in the country as of the evening of December 21. 

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.      

The coronavirus COVID-19 is reportedly affecting 218 countries and territories around the world and two international conveyances.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday that Germany will begin its first coronavirus vaccinations in care homes for the elderly on December 27.

He reportedly welcomed the approval of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech by the European Medicines Agency as a milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

The federal government is planning to distribute more than 1.3 million vaccine doses to local health authorities in Germany’s 16 federal states by the end of this year, Spahn said.

“In January, at least another 670,000 vaccine doses will be distributed each week,” he added.

This means about 4 million vaccine shots should be possible in Germany in the five weeks from December 27 until January 31.