Manama : Bahrain has authorised the use of Russia’s Sputnik Light, a single dose vaccine against COVID-19, for emergency use, official news agency BNA said on Tuesday.
The National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) of the Kingdom stated that the decision to authorise the Sputnik light vaccine was based on data provided by the manufacturing company and results of an expanded study.
The authority assessed and evaluated the safety of the vaccine demonstrated by clinical trials and studies. It also verified the quality of the vaccine by reviewing scientific data showing the quality of manufacturing and the stability of the product.
The Ministry of Health will start the import procedures based on the approval, NHRA said.
The new Sputnik Light vaccine uses the first dose of the previously approved Sputnik V vaccine, with a high efficacy level and proven effectiveness against all new strains of Covid-19, evident during laboratory testing at the Gamaleya National Centre.
On February 10, Bahrain approved the two-dose Sputnik V for emergency use. This two dose version has been approved for use in over 60 countries.
Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. While Sputnik Light can act as a standalone vaccine, it can also be used as a booster jab for other vaccines, according to Gamaleya Institute.
Sputnik light is the sixth COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for emergency use in Bahrain, following Sinopharm, Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford-Astra Zeneca, Johnson and Sputnik V. Bahrain has been providing vaccines free of charge to citizen and residents aged 18 years and above with an option to choose which vaccine they wish to receive.
A total of 6,02,390 people have so far received second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Bahrain.
To date, 8,13,728 people have been administered the first dose of the vaccine.
