UAE: 21,350 vaccine doses administered in 24 hours

The UAE has administered 21,350 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 stand at 24 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 243.54 doses per 100 people.

Drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said Wednesday they will seek regulatory approval for a new Covid-19 vaccine after human trials showed it provided a high level of protection against the disease.

Late-stage trials found that two doses of the vaccine were about 58 per cent effective in preventing infection and 75 percent effective in preventing moderate to severe disease, the companies said in a statement. A separate study on the vaccine’s use as a booster showed that it “induced a significant increase in neutralising antibodies,” they said.

“The evolving epidemiology of Covid-19 demonstrates the need for a variety of vaccines,” Roger Connor, president of GSK Vaccines, said in a statement.

The Sanofi-GSK vaccine uses “a well-established approach that has been applied widely to prevent infection with other viruses including pandemic flu,” he said. “We are confident that this vaccine can play an important role as we continue to address this pandemic and prepare for the post-pandemic period.”

On Friday, the Maharashtra government will decide whether unvaccinated people can travel by local trains in Mumbai. The government also withdrew orders issued last year by a former Chief Secretary, which allowed only fully vaccinated people from travelling in the trains.

The Mumbai High Court had ruled against allowing only vaccinated persons to travel in local trains. The ruling said that the move was illegal and a brazen violation of the citizens’ fundamental rights.

Maharashtra government said it was willing to withdraw the circulars issued last year by a former Chief Secretary preventing the unvaccinated from travelling by trains.

The Court added that the then Chief Secretary had violated citizens’ fundamental rights and had not followed due procedure.

• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi