Breaking: Nigerian Government receives Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine

The Nigerian Government has received samples of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Russia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin, delivered the samples to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, on Friday in Abuja.

The minister said the vaccine would be referred to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control as well as the Nigeria Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development, amongst other agencies, for review and possible validation.

Russia had in August announced that it had produced the first batch of its COVID-19 vaccine after President Vladimir Putin announced it had been first in the world to approve a vaccine.

Putin said the vaccine was safe and that one of his own daughters had been inoculated, though clinical trials were not yet complete and final stage testing involving more than 2,000 people only started this week.

The Russian vaccine is called “Sputnik V” after the Soviet-era satellite that was first launched into space in 1957.