A press release circulated by the ministry said the Ministry’s National Agency for Pharmaceuticals granted authorization for administering Sputnik V under an executive decree for urgent measures to get a vaccine campaign underway in the country.
This makes Algeria the first nation on the African continent to register the vaccine.
"Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots", the information on the vaccine's official website says. "The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world."
So far, more than 1.5 million people have already received the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said Sunday.
🇷🇺 Russia is leading the way with the biggest number of people vaccinated against #Covid19 than any European Union member state.
— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) January 10, 2021
Over 1 mln Russians have already been vaccinated as of January 9, 2021. pic.twitter.com/4s0Jotx0jh
The Sputnik V vaccine has also been approved in , Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, and the process to approve the vaccine in the EU has been initiated.
Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, was registered by the Russian Health Ministry on August 11, becoming the first registered vaccine against COVID-19 in the world.
