Bahrain Approves Indian-Made AstraZeneca Vaccine For Emergency Use - State Media

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2021) Bahrain's National Health Regulatory Authority� has approved the emergency use of Covishield, an Indian-manufactured coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, the Bahrain news Agency reported on Monday.

The authorization was granted based on results of clinical trials conducted by Oxford and AstraZeneca in different countries, as well as information provided by the Serum Institute of India about the manufacturing process.

Bahrain began its national vaccination campaign on December 25. While there are priority groups, such as the elderly and people with chronic diseases, the Bahraini government made vaccination voluntary and free of charge for any citizen.

Covishield is the third vaccine registered in Bahrain after China's Sinopharm and the vaccine by Pfizer/BioNTech. The vaccine's efficacy level is established at just above 70 percent.