Thirty thousand doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine arrived at Tunis Carthage International Airport on Tuesday evening, the Ministry of Health announced.
It is the first shipment of vaccine against the coronavirus for Tunisia.
The delivery came as lockdown restrictions were eased, lifting a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine for all incoming travellers and pushing the start of movement restrictions back from 8pm to 10pm. They end at 5am as before.
The initial consignment will be followed by another 500,000 doses in coming weeks, a statement from the office of the president said.
One of the last countries in North Africa to start its inoculation campaign, Tunisia was initially set to receive 94,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines through the UN-led Covax initiative.
Those shipments, scheduled for mid-February, were delayed, leaving the country scrambling to find alternatives.
The doses promised under the Covax initiative are free of charge to the government. In their absence, the other doses were procured with a $100 million credit from the World Bank. The government also drew 30 million dinars ($10.8m) from the state budget to obtain more doses, Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi said.
The vaccination campaign will begin in the next few days, said Mr Mehdi in a plenary session of the House of People's Representatives on Monday.
Twenty five vaccination centres have been set up around Tunisia, along with mobile teams to ensure vaccine delivery to remote areas. Inoculations will be free of charge.
More than 238,000 cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Tunisia over the last year, with a death toll of 8,225.
In addition to the Russian vaccine, Tunisia is set to receive a donation of 100,000 doses of China's Sinovac vaccine.
Coronavirus around the world - in pictures
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Two clowns of the Sunrise Media NGO (Medical Smile) perform at the Son Llatzer Hospital in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. AFP -
A medical worker receives a shot of Covid-19 vaccine at Thanh Nhan hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. EPA -
Medical workers prepare Covid-19 vaccine shots during a vaccination drive in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. EPA -
A medical worker prepares a Covid-19 vaccine as US President Joe Biden visits a Veterans Affairs Covid-19 vaccination center in Washington, DC, USA. EPA -
Medical personnel walk in the street during the vaccination campaign for older adults against Covid-19, in Lima, Peru. EPA -
Healthcare workers look after a homeless coronavirus patient, in a hotel room in Prague. AFP -
A medical worker waits for an antigen testing result at a rapid coronavirus testing station during a presentation of El Al Israel Airlines new ‘Extra Care’ travel measures at Ben Gurion International airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. Bloomberg -
A commuter waits for a bus in Helsinki, Finland. Bloomberg -
A medical worker checks the body temperture of a man in San Jose de las Lajas, Mayabeque province, Cuba. AFP -
Pupils eat lunch at school as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Reuters -
Paraguayans take part in a protest against President Mario Abdo Benitez's health policies and the lack of Covid-19 vaccines in front of the National Congress in Asuncion, Paraguay. Reuters -
A person waits to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters
