UAE: 69,453 Covid vaccine doses administered in 24 hours

The UAE has administered 69,453 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 15.8 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 160.41 per 100 people.

The UAE residents are the most optimistic about the Covid-19 pandemic as more than half of them believe that the situation is getting better globally.

According to a new YouGov survey, 52 per cent of residents believe that the coronavirus situation is getting better as compared to 46 per cent in the USA and the UK, 33 per cent in Germany, 32 per cent in Australia and 27 per cent in France.

This strong confidence can be attributed to the massive vaccination drive in the country because the UAE is now the most vaccinated nation

The new Covid-19 variant, called Lambda, was officially classified as a variant of interest by the WHO last month. While Delta is listed as a variant of concern, Lambda has been placed in the lower alert category.

Also known as the C 37 strain, the Lambda variant was first detected in Peru in August 2020. It is now the dominant variant in the country, accounting for more than 70 per cent of all Covid cases this year. It also has a significant presence in Chile, Argentina and Ecuador.

Meanwhile, Fiji has announced plans to make the coronavirus vaccine compulsory for all workers as it battles a runaway outbreak of the Delta variant, with the prime minister issuing a blunt message: “no jabs, no job”. Frank Bainimarama said all public servants in the South Pacific nation of 930,000 must go on leave if they have not had their first injection by August 15 and would be dismissed if they did not receive their second by November 1.