As the vaccination campaign continues across the UAE, a top health sector official has assured that the country will never run out of COVID-19 vaccine stock.

Until Thursday, the health sector has administered more than 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 across the country, at a rate of 15.45 per 100 people. It is significantly the second-best rate of vaccination recorded globally. Amid the ongoing efforts, the UAE authorities are seeking to accelerate the pace of the vaccination campaign in order to inoculate the maximum number of people.

During a recent interview at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, Dr Walid Zaher, chief research officer and vaccine project leader at G42 Healthcare, assured that the UAE government will be able to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to every citizen and resident.

“Vaccine is available at all centres. There is enough to vaccinate the entire population,” he said.

On being asked whether fresh cargo of vaccines have flown into the country as part of the Hope Consortium, Dr Zaher confirmed that there is enough vaccine to inoculate every citizen.

He also highlighted that the UAE government has taken various measures to ensure that the free vaccines reach to the public across various health centres. The authorities are currently working on a plan to increase the number of health centres to ensure more people are vaccinated every day.

Dr Zaher noted that while every individual wants to take the vaccine, there is a physical restriction at the centres as they are able to handle only a limited number of people in a single day. To handle the increasing number of participants, the government and SEHA (Abu Dhabi Health Services Company) have installed vaccination centres at every physical location possible to accommodate the maximum number of people to administer the vaccine.

He asserted that the splendid response from the public for the vaccination campaign indicated their trust in the COVID-19 vaccine provided in the country.

“Their tremendous participation shows their willingness to contribute to a better and safer community and a return to normalcy soon. We should be thankful that there is a vaccine in the country. This is what matters," he added.

Adding to his remarks, Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chairperson of the National COVID-19 Clinical Management Committee, pointed out that many of her colleagues in other countries will have to wait to get the vaccination appointment.

Dr Nawal expressed pride in the response of the community members to get themselves vaccinate in order to protect the health and well-being of all the population, noting that the UAE people have always shown great determination towards a national cause.

She asserted that the people complied by all precautions when the COVID-19 outbreak began in the country, which resulted in the effective management of the disease. The UAE's death rate has been among the lowest in the world.

"The day we announced the trial, the initial plan was to conduct it within the healthcare facilities. But as we received such an overwhelming response, we decided to move to ADNEC. We managed to complete the recruitment within six weeks, which is, I think unheard of," she added.