MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be supplied to African countries free of charge, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev told the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.

"The first batches are likely to be delivered to African countries, since there is a very high incidence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant," the RDIF head noted.

Earlier, the RDIF reported that Sputnik V elicited a stable neutralizing antibody response to the Omicron variant and protects against severe disease and hospitalization, according to the preliminary research of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

Overall, the efficiency of the Sputnik V vaccine combined with the Sputnik Light booster jab is estimated at 80%.

On November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated B.1.1.529 as a 'Variant of Concern' and assigned it the Greek letter Omicron. It also said that the new variant has "a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning." Also, the preliminary data showed that Omicron was more transmissible and could lead to outbreaks of the infection with severe consequences. Currently, South Africa rates first in terms of the incidence of the Omicron strain.