Bahrain Becomes Second Country To Give Green Signal For Emergency Use Of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid Vaccine

Bahrain did not specify when it would begin the rollout of the vaccine. However, Britain is likely to provide vaccine from next week onwards.

(Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

As the world reels with the Coronavirus pandemic, Bahrain announced on Friday that it had approved the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Bahrain became the second country to give a green signal for the emergency use of the drug. "The approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will add a further important layer to the kingdom's national Covid-19 response," said Mariam al-Jalahma, CEO of the National Health Regulatory Authority, according to a statement carried by the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA). Manama did not specify when it would begin the rollout of the vaccine by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Bahrain has so far recorded more than 87,000 novel coronavirus cases, including 341 deaths.

UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use 

The UK on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from next week. “The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the Independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use,” the government said in a statement. “The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week,” the statement said. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the development as “fantastic” news, adding: “It is the protection of vaccines that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get the economy moving again.” US-based Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and US biotech firm Moderna, have reported preliminary findings of more than 90 percent effectiveness – an unexpectedly high rate – in trials of their vaccines, which are both based on new messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. (With agency inputs)