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UAE: 9,518 Covid vaccine doses administered in 24 hours

The total doses administered now stand at 21.8 million

Published: Mon 29 Nov 2021, 4:01 PM

Updated: Mon 29 Nov 2021, 4:03 PM

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AFP

AFP

The UAE has administered 9,518 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 21.8 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 220.87 per 100 people.

Existing Covid-19 vaccines are probably effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation from the newly identified Omicron variant, a top South African infectious disease expert said on Monday.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim added at a news conference that it was too early to say whether Omicron led to more severe clinical symptoms than previous variants, although it does appear more transmissible and more likely to infect people who have immunity from vaccination or prior infection.

The new Omicron variant of coronavirus has reportedly got over 30 mutations in the spike protein region giving it the potential to develop a immunoescape mechanism, and thus the efficacy of vaccines against it needs to be evaluated critically, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guelria has said.

The presence of spike protein facilitates a virus' entry into the host cell and is responsible for making it transmissible and causing infection.



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