The Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus COVID-19 was registered in Algeria, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said. Algeria became the first African country to register a Russian vaccine.
      "The Algerian Ministry of Pharmaceutical Industry registered Sputnik V on January 10," the RDIF, which is funding the vaccine, said in a statement. RDIF clarified that the registration took place under an accelerated procedure. Earlier, under a similar procedure, the Russian vaccine was registered in Argentina, Bolivia and Serbia. The Foundation's press service did not specify the date of the start of vaccination in Algeria. Earlier, the RDIF reported that more than 1.5 million people were vaccinated with the Russian vaccine. In total, more than 90 million people have been infected with the coronavirus, according to the latest data. More than 1.9 million of those infected died. Mass vaccination against the virus began in the world in the second half of December 2020.