Bahrain's news agency reported on Saturday that Bahraini authorities have approved the use of a booster dose of the "Sputnik V" vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19, marking the first time a third dose of the Russian vaccine has been authorized. The agency stated that the national medical team for combating COVID-19 announced the availability of the booster dose for those who have completed six months since receiving their second dose of the "Sputnik V" vaccine for individuals aged 18 and above.
Bahrain and the UAE have already approved third booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. COVID-19 infection rates are declining in Bahrain, currently at 3% of their peak, with an average of 95 new cases reported daily, according to a Reuters COVID-19 report. Since the onset of the pandemic, Bahrain has recorded a total of 272,709 cases, with 1,388 virus-related deaths. Bahrain has administered nearly 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses so far, sufficient to vaccinate around 76% of its population of approximately 1.7 million, according to the World Bank, assuming that each citizen needs two doses.
