Sultan of Brunei receives his first COVID-19 vaccine shot

After the first dose injection, the sultan has consented for the national COVID-19 vaccination program to launch

• Brunei’s national COVID-19 vaccination program starts tomorrow
• Since August 2020, Brunei has made preparations for the implementation of the vaccination program
• Brunei has granted special authorization for three COVID-19 vaccines to be used in the country

Brunei’s Ministry of Health announced that the Sultan of Brunei has received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine shot, as the country is gearing up for the rolling-out of national vaccination program starting tomorrow.

According to the ministry, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah got his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine injection at the royal palace Istana Nurul Iman. After the first dose injection, the sultan has consented for the national vaccination program for COVID-19 to be given to the public in stages.

Since August 2020, Brunei has made preparations for the implementation of the vaccination program in the country. The country established a COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Committee to study, review and evaluate the COVID-19 vaccines available in the market to ensure that the vaccines used in the country are safe, effective and of quality.

Based on detailed research and evaluation, Brunei has granted special authorization for three COVID-19 vaccines to be used in the country, namely the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.

The health ministry said that this special authorization, also known as the Emergency Use Authorization, is for the prevention of the COVID-19 infection during a public health emergency or pandemic, the purpose of which is to facilitate access and vaccination to combat pandemics taking into account the high emphasis on criteria of safety, effectiveness and quality.