Covid vaccine in UAE: Jab takers told to keep masks on

Dubai - Sinopharm Vaccine has efficacy rate close to 90%

Doctors in the UAE are advising residents to continue wearing their masks and maintain social distancing norms, despite being administered China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

Doctors are unsure whether Covid-19 vaccines will help contain the spread of the viral infection.

Abu Dhabi rolled out the immunisation drive last Thursday and Dubai followed suit on Monday amid an overwhelming public response.

However, doctors have cautioned those who have received the jabs must be careful to protect those who are yet to be inoculated.

Dr Dirar Abdallah, a consultant of internal medicine and the chair of medicine at Prime Hospital in Dubai, said: “Those who have received the jab must not let their guard down. They should continue to wear masks and adhere to social distancing norms. A vaccinated person is protected to a greater extent from contracting a severe form of SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19. However, it’s unlikely to prevent the person from contracting a milder infection or even being asymptomatic.”

He said, “In such a scenario a person can infect others, who are yet to receive the jab. Perhaps, we may look at stop the use of masks after a large section of the population is vaccinated. There is still a high risk of the viral infection spreading from an inoculated person to a non-vaccinated person. Hence, it’s imperative to wear masks.”

Dr Abdallah compared the vaccine to the annual influenza jab. “We give flu vaccines to patients in a bid to prevent them from contracting a severe form of influenza and to avoid other complications that may even lead to death in some cases. If a flu-vaccinated person suffers from influenza, it will be mild and the patient is unlikely to require hospitalisation. A similar situation exists for a person, who has received the Sinopharm jab.”

Dr. Saheer Sainalabdeen, a specialist in respiratory medicine at Medeor Hospital in Dubai, echoed similar sentiments about vaccinated people could be silent spreaders of the contagion.

“If you get vaccinated for Covid-19, it will probably prevent you from taking seriously ill due to the viral infection. But whether it will prevent the spread of infection from one person to another is still not clear. Only further studies will give us a sense about it,” he said.

Sinopharm Vaccine has efficacy rate close to 90%