Covid-19: UAE's Sinopharm bet pays off as WHO approves vaccine

In July 2020, the UAE government launched the world’s first phase III clinical trial of a Covid-19 inactivated vaccine.

The World Health Organization’s approval of China’s Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use will give a big boost to the world’s vaccination race.

The WHO’s stamp of approval — the first given to a Chinese vaccine — is a sign for regulators that the vaccine is safe and effective, and a big relief as nations around the world battle the pandemic.

But long before the WHO’s approval, the UAE had placed its bet on Sinopharm as early as September 2020 when it approved the vaccine for emergency use for its frontline workers.

In July 2020, the UAE government launched the world’s first phase III clinical trial of a Covid-19 inactivated vaccine. The aim was to vaccinate as many people as early as possible as the country’s authorities realised early on that vaccination was the only way to beat the pandemic.

A clinical cooperation agreement was signed between the Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Group 42 (G42), the Abu Dhabi-based leading artificial intelligence and cloud computing company.

More than 31,000 volunteers from more than 120 nationalities took the jab in just six weeks in the clinical trial operations in the UAE under the supervision of the Department of Health of Abu Dhabi.

“Now more than ever, nations need to work in close partnership between the government and private sectors to ...confront the threat of Covid-19 and defeat this global pandemic,” said Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention.

It was a multifaceted approach of the UAE to combat the virus that made it launch the trial of Sinopharm before all others. It has paid off.

The clinical trial marked the start of a series of initiatives such as enhancing the UAE’s medical R&D capabilities, including local capacity to manufacture the vaccine.

The confidence about Sinopharm was cemented when the country’s leaders took the vaccine.

“Corona vaccination is our way to return to normal life,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, tweeted after receiving the first dose in October.

In November, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, received a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. “We ask God to protect everyone and heal everyone,” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted, with a picture of him receiving the vaccine.

The UAE was able to gradually open up its economy as a mass vaccination campaign was rolled out to immunise its population. By January, 2021, the country had already vaccinated one million people. With an aim to vaccinate half of its population, the country rolled out a nationwide inoculation programme prioritising the elderly, Emiratis and people with chronic conditions.

Gradually, it scaled up its vaccination programme by establishing more than 100 vaccine centres across the emirates.

It was no surprise that UAE became the second-most vaccinated country in no time.

As at February, the UAE had administered 48 doses per 100 people — second only to Israel (71 per 100).

“The national campaign for the COVID-19 vaccination is one of the most-important initiatives that the UAE has achieved,” said Dr Saif Al Dhaheri, spokesperson of the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, during a COVID-19 briefing last month.

The UAE also diversified its vaccine availability by approving Pfizer-BioNTech and Russian Sputnik vaccines along with Sinopharm.

Vaccine efficacy