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A SENIOR Bahraini medic on board the National Taskforce to Combat Covid-19 has vouched for the efficacy of the new weapon in the armoury against Covid-19 and its many variants.
French vaccine Valneva is the latest anti-coronavirus vaccine granted emergency use authorisation in the kingdom and last week the UK become the first European country to clear the use of the French firm’s shot.
Task force monitoring committee head Lieutenant Colonel Dr Manaf Al Qahtani said the move would help in reducing the rate of transmission, contribute to increasing immunity and reducing the severity of symptoms for those infected by the virus.
“Preliminary studies that were conducted indicate that the Valneva and other vaccinations contribute to reducing the symptoms of the virus, which may persist in some cases for long periods after recovering from the virus,” said Lt Col Dr Al Qahtani, an infectious disease consultant at the BDF Hospital.
“The vaccine in general reduces the rate of transmission of the virus to others compared to non-vaccinated, and contributes to increasing immunity and reducing the severity of symptoms when infected with the virus or any mutated from it.
Active cases of Covid- 19 infections are also on the downward trend
“Those who are not vaccinated can take two doses of the Valneva vaccine, where the second dose is given 28 days after receiving the first dose. Those who have received two or more shots of Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNtech and Covishield-AstraZeneca can opt for Valneva as a booster.”
The GDN reported last Friday that five health centres across Bahrain had started offering Valneva for those aged over 18, who have not taken any Covid-19 vaccine.
Those eligible can receive it without appointment at Naim Health Centre, Yousif Engineer Health Centre, Kuwait Health Centre, Halat Bu Maher and Shaikh Abdulla Bin Khalid Al Khalifa health centres.
Bahrain has signed a purchase agreement with the French biotech company for the supply of one million doses of VLA2001.
Meanwhile, Bahrain Covid-19 parameters in the country have started registering a positive trend with zero deaths reported in the last five days and daily cases and active cases declining.
Daily Covid-19 cases on the decline
The last 15 days recorded only two fatalities – on April 5 and 10 respectively, which is a major drop from the previous months.
The GDN reported earlier this month that Covid-19 fatalities dropped by almost 63 per cent last month which saw 17 deaths compared with 46 in February – the highest this year. January recorded 14 deaths, taking the total this year to 77.
Daily active cases currently stands at an average of 5,000, witnessing a steady decline from 6,493 cases on April 1 to 4,065 cases on April 15.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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