Russia has administered at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to more than 18 million people, around 12 per cent of the population, the TASS news agency cited Health Minister Mikhail Murashko as saying.

The figure suggests another 1m people have been vaccinated in the past week.

Russia was the first country in the world to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for domestic use, prior to the start of large-scale trials. Russia rolled out its first vaccine, Sputnik V, last December and President Vladimir Putin has insisted on the need to ramp up the production of vaccines for domestic use.