Britain and Bahrain Become World’s First Nations to Use Covid-19 Vaccine

Earlier this week, Britain announced that they authorized a Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine, becoming the world’s first country to do so. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that “Help is on the way!” as he announced the news Wednesday morning.

Britain is expected to receive an initial order of 800,000 doses over the next week. The country also announced that they are planning on receiving “many millions” before the end of the week. Britain has ordered 40 million doses that are expected to arrive from Pfizer’s facilities in Belgium.

The 40 million doses are set to vaccinate 20 million people, as the vaccine requires two shots. The elderly, immunocompromised people, and those with health problems are expected to be a top priority, but there have been talks that frontline workers are not.

After Britain, Bahrain is the world’s second country to grant an emergency-use authorization for Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s vaccine.

Bahrain News Agency, a state-run news agency, announced the following on Friday: “The confirmation of approval by the National Health Regulatory Authority of the kingdom of Bahrain followed thorough analysis and review undertaken by the authority of all available data.”

The Kingdom did not disclose how many doses were ordered nor when vaccinations are going to begin.

Transporting, storing, and using the vaccines in Bahrain is expected to be challenging since the vaccine doses must be stored in ultra-cold temperatures that go as cold as -70° C. The challenge comes as Bahrain is a Middle Eastern country where temperature can go as high as 40° C.