Saturday, Algeria launched a vaccination campaign against the coronavirus using the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine, according to the official news agency.

The Algerian News Agency said that the campaign targets, in the first stage, "the health sector, elderly people and those with chronic diseases," provided that it will be expanded Sunday to include security personnel, civil protection, the education sector, imams, politicians and journalists.

Around 8,000 health centers have been mobilized across the country.

Friday, Algeria received the first doses of the Russian vaccine, without specifying the number.

At the end of December, Algeria announced that it would order 500,000 doses from Moscow.

The largest Maghreb country will also receive the first doses of the British vaccine, AstraZeneca/Oxford, on Sunday, according to government spokesperson and Communication Minister Ammar Belhimer.

He indicated that Algeria will also receive other doses of vaccines from China, India and other countries, according to the agency.

Nineteen out of 48 Algerian states currently have an 8pm curfew due to the pandemic.