Dr. Saif Al Dhaheri, the official spokesperson for the National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA), recently addressed a weekly media briefing of the UAE government on COVID-19 developments in the country. During the media briefing, he asserted that the UAE's leading position in global rankings for COVID-19 vaccination rates is a positive indicator towards the resilience of its medical sector and potential in successfully responding to the pandemic.

The UAE is ensuring all possible efforts to enhance public health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, 95.68 percent of the UAE people have taken the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 85.52 percent have received the second vaccine dose.

"The UAE has addressed the COVID-19 according to a proactive strategy based on internationally approved indicators and research studies to ensure a phased return to the new normal," he said.

He further noted that the UAE has advanced nine ranks as compared to August in Bloomberg's Covid-19 Resilience Ranking. As of now, the UAE ranks sixth globally and first regionally in Bloomberg's ranking for COVID-19 resilient countries.

Al Daheri further hailed the significant role played by all state departments for their continuous assistance and contributions that facilitated positive results in the fight against the pandemic crisis. In addition, he commended the awareness shown by community members in following preventive and precautionary measures implemented to curb the spread of the virus.

"We're today reaping the fruits of these efforts made at the country level when we see this remarkable drop in Covid-19 daily infections," he said.

Recently, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, announced that the UAE has overcome the toughest part of the challenge and is enjoying the achievements it made against the pandemic. He called on the community members to continue their compliance with precautionary measures and adhere to safety protocols to achieve full recovery in the country.

Dr Al Daheri also urged the community members to ensure full collaboration for a phased return to normalcy across key sectors. He called on the public to ensure regular medical checkups and constant sanitisation to limit the spread of the virus.

"This crisis has proved that the precautionary measures taken, in addition to the vaccination campaign, have played a fundamental role in protecting all of us and contributed to ensuring public health and recovery. Therefore, it's quite important to continue to adopt healthy practices and habits, including mask wearing and maintaining physical distancing, while attending social occasions," he added.

The government official asked the public to continue their efforts towards the nationwide campaign against COVID-19, stressing that the danger of infection is still there across the world. Al Dhaheri highlighted that concerned state departments are regularly monitoring the developments in COVID-19 and evaluating the outcome to generate necessary updates about the pandemic.

"Based on these findings, precautionary measures will continue to be announced to ensure public health and safety," he said.

Over the past few weeks, the UAE is focusing on maintaining a strategic balance among key sectors to achieve the targeted recovery goals. In line with these efforts, the UAE has carefully designed its national plans and strategies to achieve the aspired results. In this regard, the official underscored the crucial role played by community members to strengthen the strategic balance.

"It is not just the government entities that have earned the leadership’s trust, but also the UAE society, who have shown high levels of awareness and commitment to the new normal, with new habits and healthy practices we adopt under the pandemic," Al Dhaheri said.

Al Dhaheri also appreciated the new practices introduced by the authorities to support the government efforts and facilitate safety of the community.

"The transparency and integrity of the official information shared during the last two years, have boosted public trust in the measures taken and the decisions made. We have gone through exceptional times, but together, we've weathered the crisis, thanks to these strategies," Al Dhaheri said in conclusion. 

WAM