Dubai: 8,000 people get jabbed at Wellness on Wheels mobile clinics

To support Dubai’s Covid-19 vaccination drive, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) together with Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medical and Health Sciences (MBRU) have used mobile clinics to cater to the demand from private establishments.

Wellness on Wheels initiative includes three trucks and 12 DHA medical personnel administering Covid-19 vaccines at the locations they have been deployed to.

“We are basing ourselves at various locations nominated by the DHA and so far, we have been to nine different spots across the emirate. We have managed to vaccinate over 8,000 people with their first dose,” said Kareem Gad, director of smart services at the MBRU.

They are expecting to begin administering the second doses by the first week of April, according to Gad. The trucks have the capacity to handle over 60 patients an hour and are usually based at their designated location for two days to vaccinate the employees of the company.

The Wellness on Wheels clinics are exclusively for the employees of the company that has been nominated by the DHA. The nurses and doctors administer the vaccines in the built-in 11 clinics inside the truck. According to the DHA officials overseeing the mobile vaccination centre, the move is in line with Dubai’s efforts to vaccinate 100 per cent of all eligible adults by the end of the year.

“We receive requests from various companies across Dubai and conduct our own evaluations — amount of people that have to be vaccinated as well as a site visit to assess the suitability of deploying a clinic at their premises, “ said Salah Al Bahri, Covid-19 operations in-charge at the DHA.

At present, the criteria to be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine remains the same, which includes Emiratis aged 16 and above and residents aged 40 and above who hold a valid Dubai residency visa. “Based on the progress of our vaccine drive, we will consider expanding the eligibility criteria soon,” added Al Bahri.

Criteria to receive the vaccine

>Emiratis aged 16 and above

>Residents aged 40 and above holding a valid Dubai residency visa

abdulkarim@khaleejtimes.com