UAE: 25,545 vaccine doses administered in 24 hours

The UAE has administered 25,545 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 23.8 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 240.70 doses per 100 people.

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is now the dominant Covid-19 variant in South Africa and has been detected in multiple other African countries, the head of the continent’s top public health body said on Thursday.

“We have data from South Africa that the BA.2 lineage has now become the predominant variant in South Africa,” said John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a regular online media briefing.

He said BA.2 had been identified in Mozambique, Senegal, Botswana, Mauritius, Kenya and Malawi, adding that the sub-variant was likely to be present elsewhere but may not have been detected yet due to weaker surveillance systems.

Meanwhile, as the vaccination campaign against the Covid-19 pandemic continues in the UAE and worldwide, countries are easing restrictions and opening borders for foreign travellers.

According to Our World in Data, 10.3 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered globally while 4.22 billion people have been fully vaccinated.

On Wednesday, the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) announced that all Covid-19-related restrictions will be completely lifted by mid-February.