German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Wednesday that the federal and state governments have agreed to extend the country's current COVID-19 restriction measures till January 10.

"If the infection situation continues to develop as in the last days, we will meet again on January 4 and the states are extending the directive (for a shutdown) to January 10," she said after meeting regional leaders of Germany's 16 states.

Merkel said that Germany was still "very far away" from target numbers regarding the coronavirus pandemic, which is to reach a level of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days, Merkel noted. 

In response to the pandemic, all types of catering and sports and leisure facilities in Germany have been closed since the beginning of November. Although the restrictions implemented last month have halted the sharp rise in the number of infections, the daily increase in cases remains high.

The country reported another record of death number on Wednesday. The number of daily COVID-19 deaths in Germany increased by 487 in 24 hours, bringing the total death toll in the country to 17,123, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said.

The number of new daily COVID-19 infections also remained high and increased by 17,270, now totaling over 1.08 million cases, according to the RKI. Germany is currently in an extended lockdown until December 20, which includes strict contact restrictions and the closure of all restaurants and bars.

COVID-19 outbreaks in Germany were being recorded "particularly in households and increasingly in nursing and long-term care homes," but also in schools and daycare facilities for children, according to RKI's latest daily report.

Merkel warned of a third COVID-19 wave on Monday. "We will still have to be very, very careful in the winter," she stressed.

Meanwhile, the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech SE and the U.S. company Pfizer Inc. announced on Wednesday that they had received the world's first approval for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom granted temporary authorization for emergency use for the COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2, BioNTech and Pfizer announced in a joint statement.

"All levels are working hard to prepare for these future vaccinations," said German Minister of Health Jens Spahn on Tuesday during his visit to the future COVID-19 vaccination center in the city of Duesseldorf, which can administer up to 2,400 vaccinations per day.

Germany is aiming to have COVID-19 vaccination centers up and running by mid-December. "We are preparing to supply several tens of millions of citizens with a vaccine within a very short time," promised Spahn.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, countries including Germany, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are racing against time to find a vaccine.

According to the World Health Organization website, as of November 26, there were 213 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, 49 of which were in clinical trials.

(With input from agencies)