Emirati Influencer Khalid Al Ameri revealed how the UAE manages to assist each of the 15,000 volunteers involved in the ongoing COVID-19 inactivated vaccine trials within the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
The Filipino Times Awards 2018 Social Media Personality of the Year stated that the operations in Abu Dhabi is one of the three vaccines in the world which is currently in Phase 3 out of over 140 vaccines trying to be developed around the world.
This means that the vaccine developed by Sinopharm from China has already passed Phase 1 which tests the vaccine’s serious side effects on less than 100 people, and has also passed Phase 2 which tests several hundred people to observe short term effects or impacts on the immune system.
“Phase 3 – the final phase where the vaccine is tested on thousands of people where we can compare those who get the vaccine versus those who don’t. And important to remember that phase 3 is the final step before mass production and that members of the public can get the vaccine,” explained Al Ameri.
Population diversity
Al Ameri also noted that the UAE is a prime location to do the COVID-19 vaccine trials, seeing that the UAE has over 200 nationalities living within the entire country that aids to provide comprehensive data on the impact of the vaccine on a massive scale of different backgrounds.
“What researches need is a diversity of the population. And the UAE is approximated known to have approximately 200 nationalities. So that allows researchers to see the impact of the vaccine on a diverse population of different ethnicities.
He also explained that the vaccine process takes a total of 49 days right after getting the first shot of the vaccine.
“Once they get the first vaccine, for 21 days they are checked on and they’re monitored by SEHA, by the health authorities. Then they come in after 21 days to get another shot then they go home and do a series of face-to-face checks and calls. And then after 49 days do we see the final results,” explained Al Ameri.
Vaccination goals
Waleed Zaher, Chief Research Officer for Group 42 – the company behind the organization and management of the UAE’s COVID-19 vaccine trials, affirms his confidence to the public that the UAE has made a huge step towards a viable vaccine.
“We are close to something. We are seeing some very good results. We are trying to make people come back to normal life and this is the way to do it. We have a vaccine and if it works, it will make everyone get back to normal,” said Zaher.
He furthers that the response on volunteer applications among citizens and residents have been tremendous and unprecedented: “It’s beyond our expectations. It shows how committed the citizens and people who are living in the UAE to helping us finding a cure for COVID-19.”
