MEXICO CITY: Mexico aims to administer 7.4 million doses of the Sputnik V Russian COVID-19 vaccine to its people by the end of March, even though the government has yet to approve its use, an official plan showed on Tuesday.

The country could start receiving supplies of the vaccine as soon as next week, according to the plan presented during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily morning news conference.

Sputnik V requires two doses per person, and if the official schedule is met, 3.7 million people will have been inoculated with it by the end of March, the figures showed.

Government officials say Mexico is set to purchase 12 million doses of the Russian vaccine, and that health authorities could approve its use in the country very soon.