Friday, Bahrain agreed to the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine, becoming the second country to give the green light for vaccine authorization, following the United Kingdom.
In a statement published by the Bahrain News Agency Friday, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Regulatory Authority Maryam Al-Jalahma said that intensive meetings were held to study the documents submitted by Pfizer, which included manufacturing quality and safety analysis results during the past two months.

The authority also held extensive meetings with the company’s team in the US and its representatives to answer all inquiries submitted by the authority, added Al-Jalahma.

Al-Jalahma did not specify a schedule for a planned vaccination program.

The head of the Pfizer Gulf Group Lindsay Ditchie said “ Today’s emergency use license in the Kingdom of Bahrain represents another historic moment in the battle against the coronavirus."

The license is a goal Pfizer Gulf has been working to achieve since vaccine efficacy was first announced, said Ditchie according to the Bahrain News Agency.

Bahrain has recorded more than 87,000 COVID-19 cases and 341 deaths since the beginning of the crisis.

The Kingdom had also approved the use of another coronavirus vaccine by Chinese company Sinopharm in November.