UAE: 42,884 Covid vaccine doses administered in 24 hours

Dubai - Over 20.1 million vaccine doses have been administered so far in the UAE

The UAE has administered 42,884 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the past 24 hours.

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The country's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) said the total doses administered now stand at 20.1 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 203.88 per 100 people.

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>> US sends over 8 million vaccines to Bangladesh, Philippines

The United States announced on Friday that it is sending more than eight million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh and the Philippines in the latest wave of aid to a world still struggling to tame the pandemic.

Five shipments totalling 5,575,050 doses will go to the Philippines by next week, a White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another 2,508,480 doses will arrive early next week in Bangladesh, the official said. The vaccines — all Pfizer-BioNTech — are being donated through the World Health Organization’s Covax program.

The “administration understands that putting an end to this pandemic requires eliminating it around the world,” the official said, noting that US donations represent “the largest-ever purchase and donation of vaccines by a single country."

Meanwhile, South Africa launched a new Covid-19 vaccination drive on Friday and will try to give doses to 500,000 people in two days to reinvigorate a flagging campaign that’s coming up against hesitancy and complacency in the continent’s worst-affected country.

The campaign will run through Saturday, and is the first time South Africa has offered vaccines on a wide scale to people on the weekend.

The government has urged anyone 18 or over who hasn’t been vaccinated to turn up at hospitals, town centres and mobile clinics nationwide for a shot and, in an attempt to encourage them, dropped requirements that they must register for an appointment in advance. People can now register at the vaccination site.

• Dubai