Three people who died from coronavirus (Covid-19) complications in Bahrain in the last week were not fully vaccinated, it has been revealed.
They were aged 88, 80 and 64 and suffering from underlying medical conditions, according to Health Ministry’s Public Health director Dr Najat Abu Al Fateh.
The youngest victim, who died on January 2, was totally unvaccinated and the elder two, who passed away on Friday, had yet to take a booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, she added.
The latest deaths brought the total death toll from infection complications to 1,397, accounting for 0.46 per cent of the total cases, which include 8,969 active cases, 279,088 recoveries and the fatalities.
“Three people died in the last week as a result of complications from coronavirus infection,” said Dr Al Fateh, who is also a member of the National Taskforce to Combat Covid-19.
“All of them also had underlying medical conditions. Two of these cases had not had a booster dose and one of them was suffering from symptoms too but did not consult a doctor or initiate treatment.
“The third person, aged 64, had not received any dose of an anti-coronavirus vaccination.”
In Bahrain, there were no Covid-19 deaths reported last month, while one death was reported in November. Since July, when 32 people died as a result of complications caused by the virus, the number of fatalities has been decreasing. There were four deaths in August, one in September, and four in October.
June had the highest number of deaths (372), followed by 334 in May, 125 in April, 72 in March, 74 in February, and 23 in January. Last year, 352 people died as a result of Covid complications, with the first death occurring on March 16.
Dr Al Fateh reiterated that the vaccine and its booster dose helped to boost the body’s immune response, particularly in light of the spread of the new coronavirus mutant, Omicron.
“Vaccination and booster doses against the virus have proven their efficacy in mitigating complications associated with the infection in existing cases, which range from treatment to admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and, in some cases, death,” she said.
“We urge everyone to take the initiative to get vaccinated and take a booster shot to strengthen community immunity, in order to achieve safety and protect everyone’s health.”
She also emphasised the government’s investment in the national vaccination campaign to protect citizens and residents from the virus and its various mutations.
Bahrain has vaccinated 94pc of its eligible population with two doses of the vaccine and 83pc with a booster shot.
“This has helped to keep the number of cases in hospitals and ICUs low,” said Dr Al Fateh added. “It’s critical to obtain a PCR test in the event of any symptoms too, such as high temperature, a cough, or shortness of breath – this will aid in early detection, reducing the number of contacts, quick treatment and speedy recovery.”
As the coronavirus’s Omicron variant spreads rapidly around the world, Bahrain has seen an increase in new Covid-19 cases during the last three weeks.
The GDN reported last week that new infections surged by 1,200pc since the country was placed on the Yellow alert level on December 19. While 89 cases were reported on that day, the number of reported cases has risen since then, surpassing 1,000 on January 4 to reach 1,224.
The number of active cases has also increased by more than 1,000 per cent, to 8,969 as of January 7, with 23 people admitted to hospital.
Boosters have been distributed to 876,709 citizens and residents as of Friday. They are among the 1,187,778 people who have received two doses of a vaccine, constituting 79pc of the estimated 1.5 million population.
To date, the country has performed over eight million PCR tests, with an average of 20,000 tests performed daily.
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