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Covid-19: UAE races ahead to immunise residents

Dubai - No time to go slow on safety precautions despite hectic vaccination drive

The UAE’s national vaccination campaign is in the fast lane. More than four million doses have been administered till date, local authorities said on Friday.

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The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority tweeted: “158,786 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were given in the last 24 hours, to reach 4,008,160 as a total number of doses and with a rate of 40.53 doses per 100 people as vaccine distribution.”

According to Our World in Data website, which publishes statistics on vaccinations, 119.48 million doses have been offered globally. The UAE is the second highest in the cumulative vaccine distribution rate. On Thursday, the UAE offered the highest daily doses per 100 people at 2.88 compared to 1.47 by Israel.

Further corroboration of the success of the UAE’s initiative is seen by tracking the timeline of vaccine doses, which suggests the quickest jump was made from three million to four million in just a week’s time. While the drive started in December, the first million-mark was achieved on January 10, next milestone on January 19 and three million doses administered by January 29.

The achievements are in line with the UAE’s plans to vaccinate half the population by March and provide the doses to everyone in the country.

Dr Rohit Kumar, medical director, Medeor Hospital Dubai, lauded the efforts of the local authorities and pointed out the wholehearted support shown by the community members to the drive.

“The UAE’s effort to vaccinate the populace is highly commendable. Four million vaccinations within this short time are a remarkable achievement. This shows the cooperation of the public in the vaccination drive.”

This week, the Dubai Government has added the AstraZeneca vaccine to the list of Covid-19 vaccines offered in the emirate, which includes the Sinopharm and the Pfizer-BioNTech.

Dr Fatemeh Aghanasiri, general practitioner, family medicine, Aster Clinics, Arabian Ranches, underlined that the availability of several vaccines and the ongoing massive campaign will ensure community immunity isn’t far away, and help reduce the number of cases.

“The UAE is a unique country providing different options of vaccines to the people. And at this pace of vaccination drive, the country could achieve herd immunity soon. In the coming days, I hope more members of the community join the national drive and choose to vaccinate,” said Dr Fatemeh.

The UAE registered 3,251 new cases and 14 unfortunate deaths. On a positive note, the number of recoveries remained high at 3,860.

Stressing the importance of using masks and social distancing norms, Dr Kumar noted that vaccination is the key factor in the fight against the pandemic but following the precautions is crucial as well.

“We should be creating awareness among the public to continue following the precautionary measures. Being vaccinated doesn’t mean that we are completely out of the risks of getting infected. We should strictly follow the safety precautions and adhere to the government protocol. Our fight against Covid-19 is far from over. We should continue our battle until there is no more infection.”