DUBAI: Bahrain has authorized Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Bahrain TV’s twitter account said on Wednesday.

Bahrain already uses the Pfizer/BioNTech, vaccine, one manufactured by Chinese state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, and the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The authorization is based on data provided by the manufacturing company, results of an expanded study, and a process of review and evaluation of effectiveness conducted by the Kingdom’s National Health Regulatory Authority, NHRA.

The organization also reviewed the safety of the Sputnik-5 through its clinical trials and studies, and verified the quality of the vaccine by reviewing quality of manufacturing and stability of product data.

NHRA said the Ministry of Health will launch import procedures following current requirements.

Bahrain has suspended prayers and religious events at mosques for two weeks as of today to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Worshippers instead will follow the Friday prayers and sermon live as they air from the Ahmed Al-Fateh Islamic Centre, report added.

Bahrain has confirmed a total of 109,604 since the start of the pandemic, 102,725 recovered patients and 391 deaths