The UAE has approved of the Chinese made Covid-19 vaccine, Sinopharm. This is being seen as a strong signal to a growing comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. 

According to the Chinese Ambassador to the UAE, Ni Jian, “The Phase 3 clinical trials of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine have been carried out in the UAE, with 31,000 volunteers from 125 countries participating in it. The UAE’s official registration of Sinopharm’s vaccine fully demonstrates the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.” It is going to be a much cheaper alternative to the other vaccine candidates that are being developed by other countries.

The frontrunners currently, are US based biotech company Pfizer and Germany’s BioNtech developed Covid-19 vaccine that gives 97percent coverage.

UAE has some strategic trade interests with China. One of them is the controversial Belt and Road Initiative that has derailed a few of India’s infrastructural plans. Jian has substantiated how both the countries are an integral part of each other’s development blueprints.

 Chinese is now widely been taught as a second language in the UAE. This has been made possible through the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Apparently, the Chinese made vaccine only provides an 86percent coverage from the virus strain. What goes in China’s favour is their ability to mass produce the vaccine. However, some believe otherwise. According to Jin Dong-Yan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong who spoke to another media agency, “the Sinopharm vaccine is probably safe and effective and could be a great help in fighting the pandemic. But there is lack of available clinical-trial data, and thus confidence in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy will be key to its successful international distribution.”