Ghana Registers Russia's Sputnik V Coronavirus Vaccine, Russian Direct Investment Fund Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ghana's Health Ministry has registered Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, becoming the 31st country to do so, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said Saturday.

"The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorisation procedure. Ghana has become the 31st country in the world and 5th state in Africa to register Sputnik V", the RDIF said in a statement.

Ghana is the fifth country in Africa to have registered Sputnik V.

RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev told Sputnik on Friday that Russia may start delivering its coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V to the African Union in May, with the bulk of supplies set to start in June.

Earlier this week, San Marino became the 30th country to register Sputnik V. 

Sputnik V was developed in May of 2020 by the Russian Health Ministry's Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology. The vaccine was designed using a well-known and reliable human adenoviral platform. At the end of last year, the product received approval for use in a full-scale domestic vaccination campaign in Russia that began in December 2020 and is completely free for Russian citizens.