UAE: Over 1,800 kids get Covid vaccine at pop-up centre

Abu Dhabi - Children aged 12 and above, including university students, were given the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

More than 1,800 students were administered the Covid-19 vaccine doses during a pop-up vaccination campaign held in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Mall.

The five-day drive starting August 3, held ahead of the start of the new academic year, was a joint effort of the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek), Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre, Mubadala Health and Yas Mall.

Children aged 12 and above, including university students, were given the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

Amer Al Hammadi, Adek undersecretary, underlined the drive was organised to ensure the health and safety of the school community.

“As we draw closer to the new academic year, we remain committed to enabling our students’ safe return to in-classroom learning,” he said. “To further support the national vaccination campaign, we have collaborated with our partners to introduce a temporary pop-up vaccination centre at Yas Mall, providing a facility for parents of students aged 12 and above to have their children vaccinated ahead of their return to school.”

Overall, 1,870 vaccine doses were administered in five days, with 960 females and 910 males getting jabbed. There were 434 Emirati students and 1,436 expats.

“While vaccination is a mandatory requirement to return to school for students aged 16 and above, it is optional for students aged 12-15,” Al Hammadi said. At the pop-up centre, 1,289 students were aged 12 to 16 and 581 were 16 and above.