Manama, Dec 15 (IANS): Bahrain's health regulator announced that it has officially approved the registration of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group, or Sinopharm, a state media report said.

The National Health Regulatory Authority made the decision to approve and use the vaccine after thorough review and evaluation of the clinical trials data, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying on Monday.

"Results from Phase III clinical trials showed an 86 per cent efficacy rate, a 99 per cent seroconversion rate of neutralising antibody and 100 per cent effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of Covid-19, following testing on 42,299 volunteers," the report added.

Bahrain, which had participated in Phase III clinical trials of the vaccine in August, authorised the emergency use of Sinopharm's vaccine in November to cover those frontline professionals in contact with Covid-19 patients.

The country has so far reported 89,268 coronavirus cases and 348 deaths.