Bahrain plans free shots, Saudi Arabia approves Pfizer jab

Dubai:  Bahrain has announced plans to give the public free coronavirus vaccines, as Saudi Arabia said it approved an inoculation by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to fight the pandemic.
The island nation of Bahrain, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, made the vaccine pledge in an announcement published late Thursday by its state-run Bahrain News Agency.
A safe vaccine will be provided free of charge to all citizens and residents within the kingdom, the statement said, without elaborating on which vaccine it would offer.
Bahrain plans to inoculate everyone 18 years and older in the kingdom at 27 different medical facilities, hoping to be able to vaccinate 10,000 people a day.
Bahrain, an island in the Persian Gulf home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, has a population of around 1.5 million people.
A week ago, Bahrain said it had become the second nation in the world to grant an emergency-use authorization to the Pfizer vaccine after the United Kingdom.