Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune says Algeria will begin producing Russia’s Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine in six or seven months.

Al Arabiya reports that the country’s Health Minister, Abderahmane Benbouzid, earlier this week said that the vaccine is to be manufactured by state laboratory, Saidal. However, he did not provide details regarding production plans. Talks to manufacture the vaccine in Algeria took place during a meeting between Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad and Russian ambassador Igor Beliaev.

Russian ally, Algeria, had launched its vaccination campaign in January, using Sputnik.

Vaccines from China are also expected to be delivered to Algeria. Further, the country qualifies to receive vaccines through COVAX, a program for developing countries.

Despite this, some doctors have complained that the deliveries of 50 000 doses of Sputnik and 50 000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine fall far short of what’s required.

Algeria has so far reported 107 339 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 2 891 deaths.

Umm Muhammed Umar