Dhaka: Bahrain has approved the use of corona vaccines made by Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical company and their German partner BioNtech.
Bahrain's National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) gave its approval on Friday (December 4). Al Jazeera has published a report quoting the country's national news agency BNA.
Bahrain is the second country in the world to allow the use of the vaccine. On December 3, the United Kingdom was the first country to approve the use of the Pfizer vaccine.
According to the NHRA, Pfizer's corona vaccine has been approved by Bahrain for use in high-risk patients.
However, Bahrain has not yet said how much vaccine has been purchased or when it will be implemented. Pfizer also did not comment on this.
Transportation and distribution of Pfizer vaccines will be a major challenge for Bahrain, the report said. This is because the vaccine must be transported and stored at a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius. And in the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain, the temperature of mercury regularly exceeds 40 degrees Celsius.
Bahrain can use their state-owned airline, Gulf Air, to transport the vaccine. In addition, neighboring country UAE’s Emirates Airlines said it was preparing to transport the vaccine to higher temperatures.
This vaccine should be taken in two doses every three weeks to get rid of corona infection.
Bahrain has already approved the emergency use of Chinese synoform-made corona vaccines. This vaccine has been given to about 6,000 people.
NHRA chief executive Miriam Al-Jalahma said the approval of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine would play a key role in preventing Covid-19 infection in the country.
According to BioNtech, they have signed an agreement to supply 57 crore doses of vaccine worldwide by 2021. If necessary, it has taken alternative measures to supply another 60 crore doses. The company expects to be able to deliver at least 130 crore vaccine doses worldwide by next year.
Bahrain, an island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, has a population of 16 lakh. So far, more than 87000 people have been infected with the coronavirus, and at least 341 have died. More than 85,000 people have already recovered.