On 11 January, the government of Armenia extended the Covid-19 quarantine for another six months until 11 July 2021. 

The government said that taking into account the current epidemic situation, some restrictions have been softened. Mask wearing remains mandatory in the country and a ban on events involving more than 60 people is in place. The country’s borders are closed to foreign nationals, excluding diplomatic workers, close relatives of deceased Armenian citizens and those involved in international transportation.

The deputy director of Armenia’s National Center for Disease Control and Prevention Galane Sahakyan stated that the number of new cases of Covid-19 had been decreasing since late last year and now the situation has stabilised, but added that it is expected to rise because the people actively communicated during New Year and Christmas holidays despite the restrictions. “As of 12 January, we have recorded 162,643 confirmed cases of infection, the mortality rate is 1.8%. Most cases are people aged 55-60 and 30-35,” she said.

Speaking about vaccinations, Sahakyan said that Armenia has an agreement with the Covax Facility initiative for delivery of vaccines for 10% of the country's residents, who are in the risk groups, and that the process would start by the end of January or the beginning of February. According to her, intensive negotiations are underway with four manufacturers - Russian Sputnik V, German Pfizer & BioNTech, American Moderna and British AstraZeneca.

In the past 24 hours, Armenia reported 355 new cases of the virus and 10 deaths, bringing the total tally to 162, 643 cases and 2,941 deaths.

The Georgian authorities also expressed their optimism regarding the Covid-19 situation in the country. “The Covid-19 cases have been stabilising in recent weeks, but the number of daily cases is still high. Therefore, the Inter-Agency Coordination Council decided to extend targeted restrictions till February,” stated Georgia’s Minister of Economy Natia Turnava. She added that the government would actively meet with the business sector to ensure the safe reopening of the business and the public transport.

In regard to the vaccination rollout in the country, Georgia’s Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze said that the Pfizer vaccine may be the first vaccine to arrive in the country. “The Pfizer vaccine could be the first vaccine we receive, followed by the AstraZeneca vaccine - the two closest we can get through the Covax platform," said Georgia’s First Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia, noting that in the long run, it will be technologically easier for Georgia to have a inoculation that needs to be kept at 2 to 8 degrees instead of -70 degrees Celsius like the Pfizer vaccine. She said that taking into account this, storing AstraZeneca will be technologically simpler. Gabunia also said that the Chinese vaccine is not considered yet as it is not approved by the WHO and at this level only Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines are being considered in Georgia. 

The Chairman of Georgia’s parliamentary Health Committee Dimitri Khundadze emphasised that at this stage the country has the opportunity to store this type of vaccine for about 100,000 citizens as the needed infrastructure for keeping this vaccine are in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi only. Khundadze noted that on 18 January, countries including Georgia will submit an application to Covax, which must reflect the interest and desire to use the vaccine. The Health Ministry said that 1.4 million vaccines are expected to be brought in the country through the Covax platform. 

In the past 24 hours, Georgia reported 1,875 new cases and 24 deaths, bringing the total tally to 241,637 cases and 2,820 deaths.

As for Azerbaijan, no new developments were reported regarding the pandemic measures. In the past 24 hours, the country reported 519 new cases and 15 deaths, bringing the total tally to 225,346 cases and 2,941 deaths.