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The Department of Health, Abu Dhabi has confirmed that there are now sufficient numbers of volunteers required to complete the clinical trial so no new registrations will be accepted effective from Sunday, August 30.
Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of DoH, said: "This achievement would not have been possible without the support of our wise leadership and its continuous support of scientific research in the healthcare sector. This indeed is an accomplishment in the field of healthcare and will place our country at the forefront of global research efforts to confront this pandemic."
On behalf of the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, Al Hamed extended his gratitude to the volunteers. He also praised the efforts of the medical staff of SEHA during the past period and their tireless work to achieve this goal.
The DoH said that it will continue to follow up on all volunteers according to approved protocols for this study through follow-up calls or through direct interviews by the medical team In celebration of this national achievement, the MOHAP, the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, Sinopharm and G42 Healthcare have extended their gratitude to all volunteers for their service for humanity and the work of the clinical and administrative and technical staff.
"Everyone involved in the trials from the volunteers to the clinical and administrative staff can be enormously proud of what has been achieved already showing once again the sense of unity and shared purpose that has driven the nation for the past five decades."
The two inactivated vaccines were successful during both Phase 1 and Phase II of the trials without causing any side effects with 100 per cent of the volunteers for these phases generating antibodies.
The eventual size and scale of the volunteer numbers will place the trial at par with globally acknowledged trial numbers for programmes of this kind that are typically around 45,000 or above.
The trial is part of a series of national initiatives to both foster population health and to enhance the UAE's medical research and development capabilities, including the local capacity to manufacture the vaccine.