UAE: 33,635 Covid vaccine doses administered in 24 hours

The total doses administered now stand at 20.9 million.

By Web Report

Published: Wed 27 Oct 2021, 3:56 PM

The UAE has administered 33,635 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 20.9 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 212.32 per 100 people.

UAE authorities urge residents to take their Covid booster shots

The technical advisory group (TAG) of the WHO has sought additional clarifications from Bharat Biotech relating to its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin.

The WHO said that TAG had asked Bharat Bitoech, the Hyderabad-based company, “to conduct a final emergency use listing (EUL) risk-benefit assessment for global use of Covaxin.

“The TAG expects to receive these clarifications from the manufacturer by the end of this week and aims to reconvene for the final risk-benefit assessment on November 3,” said the WHO. Last week, it had to thoroughly evaluate a vaccine to ensure it is safe; it could not ‘cut corners’ before recommending a vaccine for emergency use.

Covaxin is among the two widely-used anti-Covid vaccines in India. AstraZeneca’s Covishield, manufactured in India by Serum Institute, is the major one in the country. Serum Institute has supplied over a billion doses of Covishield in India and in other countries.

Meanwhile, China has reported nearly 250 locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 since the start of the current outbreak 10 days ago, with many infections in remote towns along porous international borders in the country’s northwest.

China had 50 new local cases for October 26, the highest daily count since September 16, official data showed on Wednesday.

The overall number is tiny versus many clusters outside the country. It is also modest compared with more than 1,200 local cases reported during China’s July-August outbreak and the more than 2,000 cases in January during the last winter.

However, the steady increase of cases in the past week and their geographical spread alarmed local authorities and prompted the return of complex sets of restrictions on travel as well as on the tourism and catering sectors.

China has said the Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge to its hosting of the Winter Olympics in February. Officials suspected the current flare-up was caused by a virus source from overseas.