Bahrain approves Covaxin for emergency use

New Delhi, Nov 12:  The National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) of Bahrain on Friday approved Covaxin, India's first indigenous vaccine against Covid-19, for emergency use.

Covaxin, manufactured by the Hyderabad-based pharma major Bharat Biotech, will be available in Bahrain for people aged 18 years and above after the approval.

People travelling from India to Bahrain with vaccine certificate issued in India approved by the WHO will be exempted from the 10-day mandatory quarantine and a pre-arrival negative RT-PCR report.

In a statement, the NHRA said that the decision follows the careful evaluation of data provided Bharat Biotech carried out by the Authority's Clinical Trials Committee and Bahrain's Ministry of Health's Immunization Committee.

More than 26,000 people participated in the vaccine's clinical trials, which established that the two-dose regimen jab is 77.8 per cent effective against Covid-19, and 93.4 per cent effective against severe cases of the virus.

The safety data indicated a low incidence of adverse effects, added the NHRA.

Recently, the World Health Organization granted emergency use listing to the Covaxin enabling countries to expedite their regulatory approval to import and administer doses.