A top-ranking official at the BDF Hospital, on Tuesday (Nov. 10), announced that the kingdom as per the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander, and First Deputy Prime Minister, will be among the first countries in the world to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
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H.H. Prince Al Khalifa has instructed the government to set proactive plans to deal with the coronavirus since the announcement of its global outbreak.
Residents of Bahrain to be Among the First Recipients of COVID Vaccine – Report
According to Dr. Al Qahtani, who’s also a member of the National Taskforce for Combating Covid-19, the government is mobilizing all of its capabilities and resources to address the pandemic in a way that ensures the health and safety of citizens and residents in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Khaleej Times reported.
Al Qahtani added that the National Taskforce, led by Supreme Council for Health (SCH) President Lieutenant-General Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, is monitoring the developments in coronavirus vaccines to take the necessary proactive steps.
Al Qahtani revealed that the kingdom has placed an order back in August to purchase more than 1 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines being developed by BioNTech and Pfizer; the British firm AstraZeneca, and China’s Sinopharm.
Moreover, Bahrain in coordination with the UAE has participated in the Phase 3 clinical trial for a potential Covid-19 vaccine, being developed by Sinopharm.
He added that the selection of the aforementioned vaccines was made by the National Taskforce for Combating Covid-19 after following up on the developments of the vaccine trials across the world.
In line with this, the kingdom is continuously in contact with other pharmaceutical companies that are developing the potential Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr. Al Qahtani also noted that the kingdom assures its residents that it would be among the first countries in the world to provide the vaccines as soon as one is accredited by the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) and international health organizations.
He explained that relevant authorities had established plans to provide the vaccine to citizens and residents easily and conveniently and in accordance with the best global health practices in this field.
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