Guinea Begins Administering Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 Vaccine

Vaccinations against COVID-19 with a Russian produced vaccine on an experimental basis began on Wednesday at a center in Conakry, Guinea.

Government officials were the first to receive the Sputnik V vaccine at a vaccination center in Conakry.

Moscow announced the registration of Sputnik V back in August after it had completed just the second phase of trials on under 100 volunteers, raising concerns from scientists among the international community.

Dr. Sakoba Keita, the Director-General of the National Health Security Agency, outlined the initiative.

"We have ordered 2 million doses (from Russia) to be able to vaccinate vulnerable people and we have also placed orders in the People's Republic of China, all that in order to show the commitment of the government to go onto the offensive to use this latest strategy that served us well during the Ebola (outbreak)."

Doctor Keita was among those who were administered the injection.

The National Agency for Health Safety also communicated that the country will assess whether to extend the vaccinations to other regions after the pilot phase.

Guinea reports almost 13,722 covid-19 cases with around just as many recoveries at 13,141 and 80 deaths