At least 400,000 doses of the Russian COVID vaccine will be delivered to Bosnia and Herzegovina and be administered to the people of Republika Srpska, the head of the Bosnian Serb entity's Public Health Institute, Branislav Zeljkovic, said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the press in Banja Luka, he said 2,000 doses of Sputnik V arrived on Monday for lab analysis at the BiH Medicines Agency to confirm that the Russian vaccine met the necessary standards.

After the analysis, which may take up to two weeks, medical workers and retirement home residents will be vaccinated first.

Zeljkovic said 200,000 doses were expected to be delivered by the end of the month and administered to 100,000 people and that the same amount was expected in March.

Unlike Republika Srpska, BiH's other entity, the Croat-Bosniak Federation, did not negotiate with Russian and Chinese vaccine manufacturers and expects a Western vaccine ordered via the COVAX mechanism.

None of the 1.23 million doses ordered and paid have arrived in BiH, so no one in the country has been inoculated against COVID.

Despite that and mild restrictions, the coronavirus situation in the country remains relatively good, with 262 new cases and 13 deaths confirmed today.