Tajik president gets COVID-19 vaccine

During his working visit to Ayni district in the northern province of Ayni, President Emomali Rahmon said, “I got vaccine.  Be sure to get vaccinated and don't mess with this disease.” 

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP), three coronavirus vaccines are used in Tajikistan: Moderna; AstraZeneca; and CoronaVac.

Besides, according to unofficial information, 3,000 doses of Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine have been delivered to Tajikistan for members of the government.

Recall, Rahmon's 88-year-old mother-in-law, Uzbekbi Asadulloyeva, died in a Dushanbe hospital on July 5.  The cause of her death was not made public, but physicians at the hospital told RFE/RL she was diagnosed with COVID-19 and died while connected to a ventilator.

Rahmon's 64-year-old sister, Qurbonbi Rahmonova, died on July 20 in Dushanbe's hospital No 5.  A physician at the hospital told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that Rahmonova died of COVID-19.

Sources close to the government told RFE/RL that Rahmonova's son, president’s nephew, and several members of his immediate family were currently being treated for COVD-19 in Dushanbe hospitals.

One of Rahmon's sons-in-law, Shamsullo Sohibov, has been treated for COVID-19 for about a month in a Dushanbe hospital, a medical staff member told RFE/RL, adding that the patient's state was improving and that he was disconnected from a ventilator.

RFE/RL says that according to unconfirmed reports, two of Rahmon's daughters had the coronavirus but only mild symptoms and were treated at home.

Tajik officials initially denied the existence of any coronavirus infections in the country when the pandemic first started last year. Since admitting the virus had hit the country, officials have been accused of underreporting cases and covering up the extent of its spread.

The government said that from January 1 until June 20 there had been no new coronavirus cases registered in the country, but the state coronavirus task force admitted on June 21 that new cases of COVID-19 had been registered in Tajikistan.