Eurasianet

The country has belatedly introduced a COVID pass system to enter restaurants and bars as the vaccination rate remains at just 28 percent.

Employers are now effectively required to demand proof of vaccinations from their workers. But the country’s health care system is now being pushed to the limit.

The government hopes to boost vaccination rates, but a new anti-vaccine campaign is on the rise.

The new rules come as the country is trying to stave off a third wave of the virus and vaccination numbers remain in the low single digits.

While clumsy on COVID-19, Turkmenistan is being more sure-footed, or consistent at least, on the Afghanistan front. Plus, unsustainable agriculture. Our weekly briefing.

The government signals it is taking COVID a bit more seriously, without admitting the virus is running rampant. And Ashgabat gets down to business with the Taliban. This and more in our weekly briefing.

With the Taliban at the border, the president heads in the other direction to oversee defense operations on the Caspian Sea. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

That Central Asia's presidents seemed to enjoy themselves together was itself a breakthrough. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

The country already leads in vaccination rates in the South Caucasus. Many expect the new rules to drive a black market for fake vaccination passports.

Iranians have been flooding into Armenia to get COVID vaccines, causing Tehran to complain and Yerevan to tighten the rules.

Although Turkmenistan is rarely mentioned as a prospective member of the Moscow-led EAEU trading bloc, that notion is quite obviously on the Kremlin’s mind. Our weekly briefing.

The coronavirus inoculation program is the first in the Caucasus and Central Asia, starting out with Chinese vaccines but incorporating Russian and Western ones at later stages.

Analysts believe the country may be benefiting from herd immunity after devastation last year.

Spraying chlorine, new infrastructure on the Afghan border, and claims of a naturally occurring COVID vaccine. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan bulletin.

The COVID-19 vaccination experiences of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia show that if you’re a small and poor country, you need to rely on powerful friends.