Covid-19: UAE races ahead to immunise residents

Dubai - No time to go slow on safety precautions despite hectic vaccination drive

The UAE’s national vaccination campaign is in the fast lane. More than four million doses have been administered till date, local authorities said on Friday.

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The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority tweeted: “158,786 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were given in the last 24 hours, to reach 4,008,160 as a total number of doses and with a rate of 40.53 doses per 100 people as vaccine distribution.”

According to Our World in Data website, which publishes statistics on vaccinations, 119.48 million doses have been offered globally. The UAE is the second highest in the cumulative vaccine distribution rate. On Thursday, the UAE offered the highest daily doses per 100 people at 2.88 compared to 1.47 by Israel.

Further corroboration of the success of the UAE’s initiative is seen by tracking the timeline of vaccine doses, which suggests the quickest jump was made from three million to four million in just a week’s time. While the drive started in December, the first million-mark was achieved on January 10, next milestone on January 19 and three million doses administered by January 29.

The achievements are in line with the UAE’s plans to vaccinate half the population by March and provide the doses to everyone in the country.

Dr Rohit Kumar, medical director, Medeor Hospital Dubai, lauded the efforts of the local authorities and pointed out the wholehearted support shown by the community members to the drive.