CARACAS: Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores received a first dose of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus on Saturday, state television reported.

“I am vaccinated,” said a smiling Maduro, joking that he should now be able to speak Russian.

On February 18, Venezuela began administering a first dose of the Sputnik vaccine to health care workers, after receiving an initial shipment of 100,000 of the 10 million doses it has ordered. The country has also received 500,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine, which was due to start being administered from Monday.

Venezuela has also reserved at least 1.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the World Health Organization’s Covax program — which is designed to help developing countries obtain timely supplies of vaccine — though a payment dispute has delayed delivery.