Ghana through the Ministry of Health has authorised the registration and use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus.

The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorization procedure.

Ghana has become the 31st country in the world and the 5th state in Africa to register Sputnik V.

CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev said: “Ministry of Health of Ghana has thoroughly reviewed the data on safety and efficacy of Sputnik V also proven by publication in The Lancet and approved the use of the vaccine.

"This is another positive example of vaccine cooperation between Russia and partners across the world to save lives and protect the population.”

Sputnik V is one of the world's top three coronavirus vaccines in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.

Sputnik V had been approved earlier in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, and the Republic of Guinea.

Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon and San Marino have also approved the vaccine.