Algeria to share Russian Covid-19 Sputnik V vaccine with Tunisia

Algeria will share doses of Russian covid-19 Sputnik V vaccine with its neighbor in the east reeling with spike in contaminations, Tunisia’s top diplomat Othmane Jerandi said Thursday.

“The Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs has assured me that his country has not yet received the vaccine. However, he assured me that as soon as the first batches are received, they will be shared with Tunisia,” Jerandi told reporters after a meeting President Kais Saied.

Tunisia, which is struggling to contain the pandemic, Wednesday imposed a four-day nationwide lockdown starting from Thursday. Contaminations have hit 170,895 while the death toll is established at 5,478.

Jerandi’s remarks came after Kais asked the foreign ministry to undertake talks with its Russian counterpart for Sputnik V acquisition to start vaccinations in view of curbing contaminations before the country acquires doses from Pfizer-BioNTech laboratories.

Algeria also hit by the pandemic has opted for Sputnik V considered more than 95 per cent efficient on the 42nd day after the second dose injection.

Algiers planned to get 500,000 doses of Sputnik V for its vaccination campaign scheduled to start this month. The Algerian government indicated that it also opted for China’s Sinovac with doses expected to be delivered by the end of this month.