MORE than 99 per cent of Bahrain’s population aged between 30 and 39 years are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, it has been revealed.
Of the 397,849 citizens and residents in this age group out of Bahrain’s estimated 1.5m population, 394,180 have been jabbed twice, accounting for 99.1pc.
More than 90pc of people aged between 12 and 79 have been double-jabbed against the virus.
While 75.5pc of those aged between 80 and 89 have taken two shots, only 52.2pc of the elderly aged above 90 came forward for the immunity-boosting jab.
The lowest number of vaccinations have been recorded in the three to 11 years group – 25,960 out of the 187,814 in the category, accounting for 13.8pc.
The age-wise breakdown of vaccination uptake was revealed for the first time by Health Ministry Primary Healthcare chief executive Dr Jaleela Al Sayed, as part of a presentation on ‘Bahrain’s approach to Combating Covid-19’ at a high-profile Harvard forum held in Bahrain recently.
“Vaccination has played a major role in the country’s battle against the virus,” Dr Al Sayed pointed out. “As of March 26, 82.1pc of the total population (1,232,976) were vaccinated (one dose), which is 85.6pc of the eligible population aged above three years and 96.3pc of the eligible population aged above 12.
“Meanwhile, 81.1pc of the total population (1,217,954) have been fully vaccinated with two doses, which is 84.5pc of the eligible population aged above three and 94.4pc of the eligible aged above 12.
“It is also noteworthy that 92.1pc (203,751) of citizens and residents aged above 50 years have been vaccinated in the country – which assures protection of the elderly and the immunocompromised.”
Bahrain launched its national vaccination campaign on December 17, 2020 offering four free vaccines – Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Covishield-AstraZeneca, and Sputnik V.
Data also revealed that the highest percentage of booster shots – 94.2pc – have been administered to those aged between 50 and 59 years. The lowest recorded were among eligible children aged between 12 and 17 years – 2.4pc.
“A total of 973,341 people have taken a booster shot (until March 26), which accounts for 85.2pc of the eligible population and 80pc of those fully vaccinated with two doses,” said Dr Al Sayed, who is also a member of the National Taskforce to Combat Covid-19. “This accounts for 64.8pc of the total population.”
Dr Al Sayed highlighted the milestones of the country’s vaccination journey which started off with the phase three clinical trials of Chinese vaccine Sinopharm in August 2020. In November 2020 the country granted emergency approval of Sinopharm for frontliners, which was extended to adults aged above 18 in December. The same month Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for emergency use followed by AstraZeneca in January 2021 and Russian Sputnik V, the next month.
In May Pfizer-BioNTech was rolled out to children aged 12 to 17 years and in June, one million people received at least one dose of an approved vaccine. Booster doses of Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech were rolled out simultaneously. In January this year, booster shots were made available to children aged 12 to 17 years.
Dr Al Sayed said the country had 31 vaccination hubs, which included 27 primary care centres, the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre, two hospitals and a site at a shopping mall.
“Ultra-freezers and thermal shippers, secure storage facilities at all levels, freezers and cold rooms fully equipped with temperature loggers, power backup solutions, and alarm systems and dedicated transportation services” were among other facilities that the country had in place to ensure a successful vacccination drive.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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