UAE: 52,391 Covid vaccine doses administered in 24 hours

Dubai - Children in the age group 3-17 years can now be given the Sinopharm vaccine jabs in UAE.

The UAE has administered 52,391 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 16.8 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 170.7 per 100 people.

Children in the age group 3-17 years can now be given the Sinopharm vaccine jabs, the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention announced on Monday, August 2.

The ministry announced that the approval of the emergency registration of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for children comes after conducting extensive clinical trials and evaluations. The administration of the vaccine is based on the emergency use authorisation and local evaluations which are in line with the approved regulations.

The Sinopharm immune bridge study that was launched in Abu Dhabi in June this year saw the participation of 900 children.

Combining AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine with a second dose from either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s jab provides “good protection”, Denmark’s State Serum Institute said.

A growing number of countries are looking at switching to different Covid-19 vaccines for second doses, a measure particularly necessary in Denmark after health authorities discontinued inoculations with AstraZeneca’s vaccine in April over rare side-effect concerns.

More than 144,000 Danes, mostly frontline personnel in the health sector and the elderly, received their first jab with AstraZeneca’s vaccine but were subsequently vaccinated with either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s shots.