Covid vaccine UAE: 143,680 doses administered in 24 hours

Dubai - It is safe and permissible to take the Covid vaccine while fasting during Ramadan.

The UAE has administered 143,680 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the past 24 hours.

The country's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) said the total doses administered now stands at 7.1 million. This takes the rate of doses per 100 people to 72.03.

It is safe and permissible to take the Covid vaccine while fasting during Ramadan, an official at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai (IACAD) told Khaleej Times on Thursday.

Dr Mohammed Eyada Alkobaisi, Grand Mufti in the Fatwa Department at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai, said scholars agree that the intramuscular and intravenous needles do not invalidate or break one’s fast, as long as they are non-nutritious.

Therefore, taking the Covid-19 jab while fasting is permissible, and will not affect the fast of a Muslim.

The EU's drugs regulator also said on Thursday that it had found the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine was "safe and effective" and was not linked to an increased risk of blood clots.

Around a dozen countries had suspended the use of the vaccine and were awaiting the outcome of an investigation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) safety committee.

"The committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion: this is a safe and effective vaccine," Emer Cooke, the head of the Amsterdam-based EMA, told a press conference.

"Its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalisation outweigh the possible risks," she said.