It has been confirmed by the Minister of Health and Prevention, Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Naseer Al Owais that Covid-19 vaccine has been authorised for the first line defense heroes, who are the most prone to catching the virus. UAE has been granted with the emergency use of the vaccine for these people so that they receive instant protection from danger given their nature of work.

He assured that the usage of vaccines is compatible with the laws and regulations which allow faster review during licensing procedures. In a media briefing where the issues related to the coronavirus are addressed, Owais announced this decision. He also said that since the beginning of the pandemic, the United Arab Emirates government has been taking all the right steps and wise decisions to deal with the pandemic and control the spread of the coronavirus. Support to the health sector in providing the necessary resources and continuously supporting the scientific progress to find solutions has also been done.

He addressed the issue on how this pandemic has put the health authorities all over the world in a difficult position where they thoroughly face the constant challenge of making crucial decisions that the healthcare system has to continuously keep on adapting. UAE received praise for its vision to support the ability of science to overcome this exceptional situation.

The health minister assured that after the preclinical study and first and second phase trials, it was found that the vaccine was safe and effective. The vaccine is currently in the third phase of clinical trials for which thousands of people had volunteered. Studies concerning the safety of vaccines have been reviewed which was carried out by the strict supervision of medical teams.

In the briefing, Dr. Omar Al Hammadi, the official spokesperson for the UAE Government, revealed the details regarding the case numbers and a summary on the vaccine developments was provided by the Head of the National Clinical Committee for Coronavirus and the principal investigator for the third phase of clinical trials of the Covid19 vaccine, Dr. Nawal Al Kaabi.

Al-Hammadi said that when compared to other countries, UAE is in the forefront of testing with respect to the population. It has surpassed 8 million tests since the start of the pandemic along with 777 registration of new cases of Covid19 after 61,084 new examinations were performed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 80,266.

Ensuring UAE’s advanced research and trial facilities, Dr, Nawal Al-Kaabi said that one of the world’s largest field clinics for trials, ADNEC is housed at UAE which is used for a number of advanced clinical trial facilities and supports the participation of 31,000 volunteers from 125 nationalities.

He then clarified on the side effects of the vaccine where he said that it is expected that apart from pain in the injected area, fatigue and simple headache, there are no major consequences. Al-Kaabi said that the vaccine will be provided to individuals working on the first line of defence as this group interacts with those infected.

The usage of vaccine received approval due to a number of factors of which a declaration by the global health authorities of an emergency leading to a serious or life-threatening disease or condition – such is the case with the COVID-19 pandemic - and the availability of scientific evidence that proves the effectiveness of the product intended for emergency response top the list. This is also due to the fact that benefits of the product outweigh the side-effects of the vaccine.

She further said that target groups, product characteristics and clinical study data are among the few things that will be taken care of while using the vaccine. The evaluation process ensured quality control, safety and effectiveness of the initiative which will be ranging from the manufacturing to the vaccination system.

WAM