Albania Approves Use of Russian COVID-19 Vaccine Sputnik V

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Albania has approved the use of Sputnik V, a Russian COVID-19 vaccine, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Friday, adding that the Balkan country has already received its first shipment.

"The Russian Direct Investment Fund … announces the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Albania. The first shipment of the vaccine has already arrived in Albania," the RDIF said in a statement.

In February, the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet published an interim analysis from Phase III trials of the Russian vaccine, showing its 91.6-percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The vaccine has already been approved in 64 countries, with a total population of about 3 billion.