Dubai is planning to vaccinate at least 70% of its population for COVID-19 by the end of 2021 as part of its free vaccination campaign that was launched last week. A health official has stated that Dubai authorities will be providing Pfizer-BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine to citizens and residents in the emirate free of cost.

The first phase of the vaccination campaign began last week, targeting four priority groups, including frontline workers, people with disabilities, elderly and those with chronic medical conditions.

While UAE's capital Abu Dhabi decided to roll out vaccine made by Sinopharm, China's National Pharmaceutical Group, Dubai followed the footsteps of Saudi Arabia to utilise Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate its citizens and residents. Significantly, Saudi Arabia was the first Arab nation to announce the use of Pfizer's vaccine.

Speaking to Reuters, Farida al-Khaja, chairwoman of Dubai’s steering committee for COVID-19 vaccinations, said that they are aiming to vaccinate approximately 70% of the emirate's population by the end of 2021, with a special focus to reach the much-required herd immunity.

Khaja confirmed that the second phase is likely to start in April 2021 which will be open to all citizens and residents in Dubai.

Earlier this month, UAE's Health Ministry registered Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 for emergency use.

Talking about the coordination between all seven emirates in the UAE, Khaja affirmed that it is national vaccination campaign that cover all seven governments are working on their vaccine programmes.

The UAE emergd as the first country besides China to roll out Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. It has reported that the vaccine has 86% efficacy to the virus, as per a review of an interim analysis of late-stage clinical trials. Sinopharm's vaccine's phase III clinical trials were conducted in the UAE in which as many as 31,000 volunteers from 125 nationalities participated, making it a huge success.

Meanwhile, Sinopharm vaccine is available for public use for anyone living in the UAE who wished to get a jab. It is also available at a field hospital in Dubai which was set up by the federal government.