Abu Dhabi links relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions in schools to student vaccination rates

The Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee on Tuesday approved a ‘blue schools initiative’ which will support all Abu Dhabi schools in relaxing Covid-19 measures and returnring to normal operations based on their vaccination rates.

The new initiative will be implemented from Term 2 of the current academic year.

Schools will be tiered based on student vaccination rates. The four tiers are: orange for schools with less than 50 per cent of students vaccinated; yellow for schools with 50-64 per cent of students vaccinated; green for schools with 65-84 per cent of students vaccinated; and blue for schools with 85 per cent and above students vaccinated.

Higher vaccinated schools will be able to gradually relax measures, including reduced social distancing requirements, relaxed mask-wearing protocols, increased classroom and school transport capacity, and a return to extra-curricular activities, in-school events and field trips.

Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee has approved the blue schools initiative, supporting schools in Abu Dhabi to relax measures and return to normal operations based on vaccination rates. pic.twitter.com/GF6LusFsbF

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) October 5, 2021

Free vaccines are available for children at various vaccination centres across Abu Dhabi, including the dedicated children’s vaccination centre at ADNEC.

The Pfizer-BioNTech is available for children aged 12 and over, while the Sinopharm vaccine can be taken by children aged 3 and over.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced that 44,793 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered over the previous 24 hours.

The total number of doses administered stands at 20,273,265 with a vaccine distribution rate of 204.98 doses per 100 people.