Health officials in UAE receive first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Several health officials in the UAE have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr. Youssif Al Serkal, assistant under-secretary for the hospital sector and director general of the Emirates Health Services Corporation; Dr. Hussein Abdel Rahman Al-Rand, under-secretary of the ministry’s health assistant sector, health centres, and clinics; and Awad Saghir Al Ketbi, assistant under-secretary of the support services sector, have all recently been administered the vaccine.

Last week, the UAE’s minister of Health and Prevention, Abdul Rahman Al Owais, received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Read: UAE health minister gets first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

The ministry has also started administering the vaccine to medical and nursing staff at Al Qassimi Hospital for Women and Children, official news agency WAM reported.

“Those who got vaccinated will be under careful and continuous medical supervision along with necessary examinations to spot any adverse effects that may arise,”  the ministry said in a statement.

The evaluation of the vaccine for emergency use by frontline workers is based on a criteria that considers the target group, product characteristics, preclinical and clinical study data, and all available scientific evidence.

The ministry has followed measures to control the quality, safety, and effectiveness of the vaccine. It is also monitoring the negative effects and providing information pertinent to its safety, efficacy, and manufacturing.

Since the virus outbreak that originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, the UAE has reported a total of 85,595 cases of the contagion. As many as 405 people have succumbed to the virus till date.