Algiers, Dec 21 (IANS): Algeria will kick start the country's vaccination programme against the novel coronavirus from January 2021, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced.

"I ordered Prime Minister (Abdelaziz Djerad) to hold a meeting with the scientific committee in charge of monitoring the pandemic development, in a bid to select the best anti-coronavirus vaccine ahead of starting the vaccination operation in January 2021," Tebboune said in a statement posted on his official Twitter account on Sunday.

Last week, Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid told reporters that the recommended coronavirus vaccine "will be free for all" in the country.

On Sunday, the country reported 422 coronavirus cases, 391 recoveries and seven deaths, the spokesman of the committee Djamel Fourar announced in his daily briefing.

The tally of confirmed cases hit 95,203, while the death toll stood at 2,666 and 63,260 patients have been discharged from hospitals, Fourar noted.