The UAE government aims to provide vaccines to up to 50% of the country’s total population by March 2021.
Dr. Farida Al Hosani, the official spokesperson for the UAE health sector revealed that the country has already administered 826,301 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, which is equivalent to 47,000 doses per day.
“We aim to reach more than 50% of the country’s population during the first quarter of this year. This will help us reduce cases in general, reduce critical cases in particular, and control the disease better in the next phase,” said Dr. Al Hosani.
This also translates to eight percent of the total population of the country who has already received the vaccine to date.
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The Department of Health and the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre recently launched a campaign titled “Choose to Vaccinate” that aims to provide vaccines for all UAE citizens and residents to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
As of posting time, the UAE prioritizes the elderly and those with chronic diseases for the first phase of the campaign.
“We would like to emphasise that the priority for getting the vaccine is for people who are most vulnerable to complications from the disease, such as the elderly and people with chronic diseases,” explained Dr. Al Hosani.
“We focus on this category to ensure their protection from these complications, and the vaccination has proven 100% successful, effective and safe for senior citizens and residents over 60 years of age, and therefore we advise all people in this category to get the vaccine,” she added.
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The official spokesperson for the UAE health sector also noted a spike in the number of cases, which came from inter-emirate and international travel.
“We have noticed a marked increase in the number of #Covid19 cases worldwide, and an increase in the number of cases registered in #UAE due to the increase in commuting between emirates, in addition to the presence of cases coming from outside the UAE arriving at various airports,” said Dr. Al Hosani.
Dr. Al Hosani then explained that the UAE government plans to review all precautionary measures once again to ensure strict implementation of preventive measures within the entire country.
“Our goal in the next stage is to control the increase in the number of cases by reviewing the precautionary measures applied in establishments and institutions and emphasizing the commitment of all members of society to preventive measures,” explained Dr. Al Hosani.
