Libya welcomes first batch of Russian Sputnik V to roll out vaccination program

Libya Sunday received over 100,000 doses of Russian covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, and will begin the inoculation campaign against the pandemic which has already infected over 160,000 people.

Interim Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeiba welcomed the doses which landed at Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli.

“Little drops of water make the mighty ocean, and now we have managed to bring the first batch of Coronavirus vaccines and the rest will follow,” he said.

He urged Libyans to register for vaccination on the portal launched in March by the National Center for Disease Control.

The North African country has not set a date for the campaign yet but it aims to vaccinate 3 million people.

Over 160,000 people have so far tested positive to the virus which has also killed 2,737 others, out of the seven million strong population.

Other vaccine batches are expected.