Nigeria is considering the procurement of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, but does not exclude the option of receiving it from Russia as a donation, Nigerian Ambassador in Moscow Abdullahi Shehu told Sputnik in his first interview since taking office.

“You see there are two ways, either Nigeria will make a budget to acquire or maybe the Russian government can donate as part of its technical assistance to Nigeria. So … we are putting two options on the table. As Nigeria has already approved the use of Sputnik V in our country but we have not concluded discussions as to whether Russia will support Nigeria as part of technical assistance or Nigeria will have to purchase the Sputnik V,” Shehu said.

Nigeria’s national drug regulator authorized the use of the Russian vaccine in mid-July. To date, Sputnik V has been authorized in 71 countries with a total population of 4 billion people. (ANI/Sputnik)