Dubai Covid vaccine: New supply of Pfizer jab 'soon'

Dubai is working to arrange more supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, said Amer Sharif, the head of Dubai’s Covid-19 Command and Control Centre.

“Pfizer supply has been a global challenge and we are no different from any other major city or country in the world. Yes, there has been a lot of discussions with Pfizer representative in the region. There will be new supply coming in soon," Sharif told Bloomberg TV in an interview.

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) had recently rescheduled appointments for residents to take the first dose of the Pfizer jab amid a global supply crunch.

"In addition to Pfizer, the government has made available other vaccines such as Sinopharm and AstraZeneca Oxford. Any vaccine that has been approved by health authorities will be made available in the country,”

Sharif noted that the authorities are monitoring emerging releases and activities related to vaccines.

“Any vaccine that goes through approvals will be made available by the health authority. We are planning to (vaccinate) 100 per cent of eligible adults by the end of the fourth quarter of this year,” he added.

Enough capacity of hospital beds

He noted that Dubai hospitals have enough capacity to deal with Covid-19 cases, thanks to strong public and private partnerships.

“There has been a great contribution between public and private sectors to search capacity in the healthcare system. Economic activity in Dubai has been opened since June or July and hospitals are catering to both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 cases.

"We have taken measures to make sure that we cater all the people. We are very comfortable with the current capacity available to deal with Covid-19 cases across the system and we will make sure no one in Dubai who needs to be treated will be denied access. We will make sure everyone has access to proper treatment,” Sharif told Bloomberg in the interview on Sunday.

“Whether it is additional beds dedicated for Covid-19 or regular beds to deal with moderate or regular cases, they are being made available and we are ahead of the curve.”

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi