The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Agency recently thanked the UAE community for adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols which helped in limiting the spread of the virus in the country. However, the NCEMA has called on the public to continue their compliance with precautionary measures such as use of face masks in all places to protect their health and wellbeing.

The UAE been reporting a significant drop in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Since October 21, the daily number of cases has fallen below 100. However, raising concerns over the emergence of new variants of the Delta, Alpha and Gamma COVID-19 strains in Europe, the Americas and South Africa, the NCEMA has affirmed the precautionary measures will remain in place for ensuring health and safety of the public.

Addressing a weekly media briefing of the UAE government, Dr Noura Al Ghaithi, official spokeswoman of the UAE Health Sector, also called on the public to respect the precautionary measures to protect the health of everyone.

"Wearing masks, physical distancing, sanitising the hands and the surfaces – all of these measures have become the new lifestyle that we should be used to in the coming period," Dr Al Gaithi added.

Dr Al Gaithi underlined the importance of adhering to safety measures to limit the spread of new mutations of COVID-19. She further noted that the UAE's robust vaccination campaign has helped in inoculating maximum number of people in the country and facilitating herd immunity against COVID-19. Since the beginning of COVID-19 vaccination drive in December 2020, the UAE has administered more than 20 million vaccine doses across the country. As of Tuesday, 97.16 percent of the public has received their first dose of the vaccine while 87 percent have received both doses.

"We are getting closer to the community immunity that we target for us to go back to our normal life. The vaccine has contributed greatly in decreasing the number of infections," Dr Al Ghaithi added.

In addition, she urged eligible community members to receive the booster vaccine dose to enhance safety against COVID-19. As per government protocols, people who had Sinopharm vaccine more than six months ago are eligible for a booster dose. The booster could either be Sinopharm or Pfizer to enhance protection against the disease.

At the same time, the UAE authorities are allowing people to take a full course of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine after receiving Sinopharm vaccine more than six months ago. It will help them in travelling to those destination that have yet not approved the Sinopharm vaccine.

According to studies conducted by US researchers, two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are highly effective in preventing severe illness due to Delta variant of the virus.