San Marino receives more Sputnik V virus vaccines

San Marino aims to conclude its vaccination campaign by the end of May, the director of the Social Security Institute said on Thursday.

Alessandra Bruschi spoke a day after the city-state, which is surrounded by Italy, received another batch of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V.

The tiny republic had to resort to its "Plan B" and buy Sputnik V jabs from Russia after plans to get European Union-approved doses from Italy got delayed.

San Marino received the first doses of the Sputnik jabs in late February.

Bruschi said the Social Security Institute has been receiving calls from Italian citizens asking to get vaccinated in the micro-state, but said they will only administer vaccines to San Marino's citizens.

San Marino, with a population of about 33,800, is located near Rimini on the Adriatic coast.

It isn't an EU member, and as such was excluded from the deals the 27-nation bloc negotiated with pharmaceutical firms.