The UAE has achieved the first position in the Arab world and second worldwide on the list of most resilient countries in response to COVID-19, as per the Pandemic Resilience Index 2021 compiled by the Consumer Choice Centre (CCC).

The Index assesses official government data and provides an overview of the preparedness of the healthcare infrastructure of countries across the world against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pandemic Resilience Index 2021 hailed the UAE's performance against the pandemic, in particular, noting that it was much better than all countries in the European Union. The UAE's national vaccination programme reflects the country's proactive approach against the pandemic.

"The UAE has rapidly launched the vaccination programme and vaccinated more than 50% of the population," Fred Roeder, General Manager of Consumer Choice Centre, said in the report.

The report stated that the average of COVID-19 testing in the UAE ranked third only after Cyprus and Luxembourg. It was followed by leading countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France and Italy.

The report noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has put the global health system to an emergency test, revealing its strengths and weaknesses, especially in terms of planning capabilities, hospital capacity, and providing a robust regulatory mechanism to quickly and efficiently address the pandemic by reinforcing testing and vaccination.

This year's Index evaluated COVID-19 response of 40 countries in terms of vaccine approval, distribution, mass testing capacity, and the number of intensive care beds among other criteria. The report stated that the UAE achieved the highest ranking in terms of these criteria, even ahead of the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Countries that started testing and then vaccinating as soon as possible and provided a sufficient intensive care bed capacity managed to contain the spread of Coronavirus better than other nations, the report added.