DUBAI, UAE – The United Arab Emirates is about to have half of its population vaccinated against coronavirus before the deadline set in late March, according to the country’s health authorities.
The small 10 million sheikh desert began its public vaccination campaign late last year after China’s Sinopharm vaccine was made available to health workers and government officials in September. And in terms of vaccination rates, the UAE’s national program is now the second largest in the world after Israel.
More than 1.8 million people have already received the Sinopharm vaccine, which is available free of charge to all citizens and residents. This is more than four times the vaccination rate per capita in the US. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine developed in the USA and Germany is launched in Dubai, currently in its first phase, which is reserved for people over the age of 60, those with pre-existing health conditions and front-line workers.
A health worker presents a dose of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine from China at a vaccination center in the Jordanian capital Amman on January 13, 2021.
Khalil Mazraawi | AFP | Getty Images
Both vaccines require two shots 28 days apart, and 28 days after receiving the second shot, patients are no longer required to quarantine, but will still need to wear masks and practice social distancing. national emergency and disaster crisis said
And while the administration of the vaccine is optional, says NCEMA, it is highly encouraged. Abu Dhabi government employees who choose not to take one of the vaccines will be required to take a PCR test every two weeks.
“We are very pleased with the progress we have made,” Omar Ghobash, the UAE’s assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy, said on Sunday. “Obviously, there are people who are still getting sick and unfortunately dying, but overall we think we have managed to find the balance between health and safety on the one hand and economic viability on the other.”
Sinopharm developers say its vaccine is 86% effective, while the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective, although some medical professionals have expressed skepticism about the vaccine made in China due to a lack of published data. its development and studies. In November, the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, including the leader of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid of Maktoum, posted on Twitter images of themselves getting the Sinopharm shot.
Vaccinations are pushing forward amid rising numbers of cases
Cases have been rising in the Gulf country for less than three weeks since the end of December, as tourists have flocked to Dubai’s beaches, restaurants and shopping malls. Despite visitors requiring a negative PCR test result before boarding or on arrival, many suspect that a more transmissible strain of the virus first identified in the UK is at least partially to blame, given the high volume of British tourists in the UK. emirate for vacation. season.
The jump in cases – now averaging more than 3,000 a day, compared to about 1,000 a day at the end of December – has led the UK to remove the UAE from its “safe travel corridor”, even though UK travelers are blocked by many countries due to fear of the new strain of virus. The United Arab Emirates has successfully kept its number of cases below 2,000 a day throughout 2020.
The United Arab Emirates has recorded 256,732 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 751 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. A record daily number of 3,453 cases was recorded on Sunday.
Women sunbathing sit along a beach in the Gulf of Dubai in the Emirate of Dubai on July 24, 2020, while in the background is the Burj al-Arab Hotel. Following a painful four-month shutdown of tourism that ended earlier in July, Dubai is billed as a safe destination with resources to prevent coronavirus.
KARIM SAHIB | AFP through Getty Images
However, it seems that, for the time being, at least the party city and the regional commercial capital of Dubai will continue the vaccination campaign, while maintaining its tourism-dependent economy.
Meanwhile, the oil-rich neighboring capital, Abu Dhabi, has been much more conservative, requiring a series of negative PCR tests over a period of several days for anyone wishing to enter the emirate – even from other emirates in the country.
As for Dubai, wearing a mask remains necessary in all public places, except for activities such as eating or training intensely, and the authorities remind residents to distance themselves socially. The opening of the emirate, which has gradually increased since the summer, followed a period of one of the strictest blockades in the world in March and April.
Until the New Year, the Dubai government allowed residents to hold meetings in their homes for up to 30 people. Hotels that were once almost completely empty have seen a 70% increase in occupancy rates as tourists flee their own countries for a sense of normalcy and warm weather.
“They balance personal responsibility with an economy that needs to move forward,” Ghobash said of the country.
“Vaccination of the largest possible percentage of society” is the country’s goal, NCEMA posted on Twitter earlier this month to “access the acquired immunity resulting from vaccination, which will help reduce the number of cases and control the disease.”