Covid-19: UAE nears 1 million vaccinations

Dubai - The health authorities are surely keeping the momentum going with the free of cost nationwide vaccination campaign.

The UAE is on the cusp of reaching 1 million doses of vaccines administered in the country. The Ministry of Health and Prevention on Friday announced that a total of 53,859 doses were given in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 941,556.

The health authorities are surely keeping the momentum going with the free of cost nationwide vaccination campaign. The UAE is offering both the Chinese Sinopharm across the country and Pfizer-BioNTech in Dubai, and aims to vaccinate 50 per cent of its population by March.

The UAE sits second after Israel in terms of vaccine administration rate, according to Our World in Data website. The data updated on January 7 shows the UAE has given 9.52 vaccination doses per 100 people of the total population, behind Israel’s 19.55.

While the vaccination drive is on track to achieve herd immunity, medical experts have warned people against letting their guard down. The ultimatum from frontline workers came as the UAE recorded 2,950 cases on Friday, a day after registering a record 2,988 cases.

Doctors have blamed private parties held while ignoring precautionary measures and a possibility of the new Covid-19 strain circulating in the community as the likely reasons for this sudden spike in positive cases. “The majority of cases we have seen in the past two weeks happened due to private parties where people celebrated without precautions,” said Dr Salvin George, specialist, internal medicine, Medcare Hospital Al Safa, Dubai. “There are a lot of travellers arriving from the UK and the possibility of the new strain circulating in the community is a reality,” he added.

Dr Maisaa Al Sulaiman, family medicine specialist, Burjeel Specialty Hospital – Sharjah, stressed the pandemic is not yet over and precautionary measures like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and avoiding gatherings are required even after vaccination.

“Wearing masks is important during this pandemic because the main entry of the Covid-19 virus is through the nose, that is why social distancing and the wearing mask are crucial for preventing the spread of the virus and protecting ourselves and others as well,” Dr Maisaa added.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com