Dr. Manaf Al Qahtani, Infectious Diseases Consultant and Microbiologist at the BDF Hospital said that Bahrain has put in place proactive plans to deal with the virus since the announcement of its global outbreak.
Dr. Manaf Al-Qahtani, also member of the National Taskforce for Combating COVID-19, said that all capabilities and resources have been harnessed to address the pandemic in a way that preserves the health and safety of citizens and residents in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
He said that Bahrain made an order last August to purchase more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines being developed by BioNTech and Pfizer; British firm AstraZeneca and the Chinese Sinopharm.
The Kingdom of Bahrain, in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, participated in the Phase 3 clinical trial for a potential Covid-19 vaccine, being developed by Sinopharm.
Dr. Qahtani said that the selection of the aforementioned vaccines was made by the National Taskforce for Combating COVID-19 after following up on the developments vaccine trials in the world.
He said that Bahrain is in continued contact with the other medical first which are developing the potential COVID-19 vaccine.
He announced that Bahrain would be among the first countries in the world to provide the vaccines as soon as it is accredited by the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) and international health organisations.
He said that concerned authorities had drawn up plans to provide the vaccine to citizens and residents easily and conveniently and in accordance with the best global health practices in this field.