Valneva’s COVID vaccine for 18 years and above, says NHRA

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The European vaccine company, Valneva’s (VLA2001) COVID-19 vaccine, approved for emergency use by the National Health Regulatory Authority, is for 18 years and above, confirmed NHRA.

The new authorization brings the number of approved COVID-19 vaccines for use in the Kingdom to seven, NHRA said.

According to the COVID-19 vaccine tracker, the approved vaccines for use in Bahrain are Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty, Gamaleya’s Sputnik Light and Sputnik V, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson)’s Ad26.COV2.s, Serum Institute of India’s Covishield (Oxford/AstraZeneca), Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Sinopharm’s Covilo and now Valneva’s VLA2001.

The NHRA’s approval is based on the Authority’s Clinical Research Committee and the Ministry of Health Vaccination Committee’s in-depth study of all documents submitted by the company, which included the results of the immunology study. The Ministry of Health said it would start the importation procedures soon.

Tribune earlier reported that Valneva had signed an advance purchase agreement with Bahrain in December 2021 for supplying one million doses of VLA2001.

The company had also said it expects to deliver the first shipments of VLA2001 to Bahrain at the end of March 2022.

Following the approval, Thomas Lingelbach, Chief Executive Officer of Valneva, said, “We are extremely pleased with this first authorization and would like to thank the Kingdom of Bahrain for their trust and confidence.”

He added: “As the only dual-adjuvanted, inactivated COVID-19 vaccine approved in Bahrain, VLA2001 will provide a differentiated vaccine option to the Bahraini population and medical community".