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A citizen receives a vaccine against COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates, December 23, 2020. / CFP
A citizen receives a vaccine against COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates, December 23, 2020. / CFP
The UAE began offering free COVID-19 vaccines with a Chinese vaccine to all citizens and residents, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
The move came after the vaccine, developed by China’s Sinopharm, was approved and officially registered in the Gulf state earlier this month. It was found to be 86 percent effective against the new coronavirus.
That record “opens the way to comprehensively protect the population and responsibly open up the economy,” reported the UAE state news agency WAM.
Free vaccination is available in public and private clinics, as well as field hospitals in the UAE, starting Wednesday. While vaccines are distributed by age and vulnerability in other countries, the United Arab Emirates “has expanded access to all adults in the population of 1 million citizens and more than 8 million foreign residents,” he said.
Health authorities have published a list of places in the United Arab Emirates where beatings are offered.
Although Dubai only has one public place for vaccines so far, Abu Dhabi and other emirates have “multiple state health centers and private sector hospitals and clinics are offering the vaccine,” the Financial Times reported.
The UAE authorized the emergency use of the vaccine developed by Sinopharm for front-line healthcare workers in September.
Ministers and senior officials who also received the vaccine include UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
