Algeria launches its Covid vaccination campaign

Algeria launched its Covid vaccination campaign on Saturday in the town where the country's first case of infection with the coronavirus was confirmed in March.

A 65-year-old retiree got the first shot of Russia's Sputnik-V vaccine at a hospital in the town of Blida, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Algiers, in the presence of health authorities.

Vaccines will start being administered in all regions of the country on Sunday. The campaign is set to start with health care workers, the elderly and other vulnerable population.

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Algeria received its first shipment of vaccines on Friday. Authorities did not indicate how many arrived, though the government had said it had ordered a first batch of 500,000 doses.

The government said it is also negotiating acquisition of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Algeria has lost at least 2,884 lives to the coronavirus pandemic and confirmed more than 106,000 cases.

Meanwhile, concerns are growing about Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who has been convalescing for more than a month in an undisclosed location in Germany after suffering COVID side effects.