Covid: Dubai to vaccinate all 'eligible adults' this year

Dubai intends to vaccinate all eligible adults by the end of 2021, said Amer Sharif, the head of Dubai’s Covid-19 Command and Control Centre.

“We are planning for 100 per cent of eligible adults by the end of the fourth quarter of this year,” Sharif told Bloomberg TV in an interview.

In order to contain the pandemic, authorities in Dubai have announced a host of restrictions and measures.

The emirate closed pubs and bars; reduced shopping malls capacity to 70 per cent; indoor venues and cinemas to 50 per cent; hotels to 70 per cent; and directed restaurants and cafes to close by 1am.

In addition, tourists and residents coming to Dubai are required to have a negative Covid-19 test result prior to their travel and also take a PCR test on arrival in Dubai.

Sharif noted that the authorities will make all the vaccines available for the residents.

The UAE has received different Covid-19 vaccines, including Sinopharm, Pfizer BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sputnik.

The UAE has administered over four million doses of the vaccine.

The UAE is also building up its capacity to manufacture the Covid-19 vaccine in the future, Dr Farida Al Hosani, official spokesperson for the UAE health sector, said during a webinar last week.

“There has been a lot of expectation from the UAE of different stakeholders. Our leadership position is to provide as much support to international community. However, we are not a vaccine manufacturer and we are building up capacity for future manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccine as well,” said Dr Al Hosani.

Amer Sharif said there is a need to maintain a balance between the number of cases as well as social and economic well-being of the people.

Economists and healthcare official believe that vaccinating the people will help open up the economy and bring life back to normalcy in the country.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi