'Third stage' of Covid-19 vaccine trials underway in UAE

The UAE's healthcare sector has moved on to the third stage of Covid-19 vaccine research and clinical trials, a UAE minister has announced. If it proves to be effective, "we will move on to mass production of the vaccine", said Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention.
This came as the minister addressed a virtual briefing on Monday. He revealed that a research will be conducted on two types of vaccinations in the third phase.
"We have more than 15,000 volunteers for the study and trials. All conditions and requirements for the safety of volunteers have been met," the health minister said. "We will follow best global standards for the research."
The UAE had earlier announced that it had started phase 3 clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine that is expected to be available by the end of 2020 or early 2021.
Mass testing
Al Owais also announced that the UAE has conducted over 4 million Covid-19 tests.
The country had introduced one of the world's most comprehensive testing and tracing regimes early on. With accelerated mass testing, the country has managed to carry out the maximum number of tests in a record time. It also plans to conduct over two million tests in the next two months. The UAE leads when it comes to testing per million population.
Smart platform
The UAE has announced the launch of a smart platform that allows users to identify the nearest health centre using an interactive map.
The platform that provides a set of graphs will put together data from the Ministry of Health and Community Prevention, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority and the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority.
sahim@khaleejtimes.com