In December 2020, Moscow and Caracas signed an agreement on coronavirus vaccine shipments. The first batch was sent to the Latin American country in February.
"I am glad to be here in the Caracas airport to receive new doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. This vaccine is the most effective one in the world," Alvarado told state-run broadcaster Venezolana de Television, adding that the current shipment will help finish the vaccination of medical staff and also be used to inoculate senior citizens, Sputnik reported.
The Russian vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Epidemiology and Microbiology Center, is the world's first registered vaccine against the coronavirus.
In February, the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet published an interim analysis from Phase 3 trials of the Russian vaccine, showing its 91.6-percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The vaccine has been approved in 60 countries, with a combined population of about 3 billion.