Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai raised the need for unity among nations to combat the coronavirus pandemic. During his recent speech, which he gave to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, he said the pandemic demonstrated that togetherness is “must" in the current scenario.

“We believe that there is no future for anyone without cooperating with the other and that no nation can isolate itself from the rest of the world, the world learnt this lesson clearly in 2020 with the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic,” Shaikh Mohammed said.

“This year has been difficult for everyone, with the suspension of people’s movement and declining global economy, where a lot of people lost their jobs. But in the UAE, we tried to create a different model, and we responded to the global call to turn this pandemic challenge into opportunities for innovation, sustainability and human development, “he added.

UAE leader emphasised how his country took a leading role in helping many nations with much needed food and medical aid. Besides, he added that in the recent months UAE has also provided key investment to many nations across world, which were the pandemic hit the hardest to help them with economic recovery. The Arab nation has also worked towards developing air-corridor strategies to reopen global travel and enable research and successful trials for a Covid-19 vaccination.

He said,”All nations and peoples realise that true strength and real prosperity comes via co-operation and coordination... Our strength lies in our diversity and our solidarity.”

Sheikh Mohammed also discussed the model UAE adopted to beat the pandemic catastrophe, saying, “We have responded to the global call to transform this challenge posed by the pandemic into opportunities. Opportunities for innovation, sustainability and human development.”

Recently, UAE offered to volunteer a Phase-3 trial for a Chinese vaccine which was given to 31,000 individuals in the Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan. The vaccine was mainly given to frontline medical workers, senior officials and some members of the Cabinet. The vaccine shots were given after it gained approval from the UAE Government in September for limited use. Last week, Sheikh Mohammed himself took the preventative Sinopharm vaccine.