UAE approves China’s Sinopharm vaccine for use

The UAE has officially registered Sinopharm’s vaccine for use after it recorded 86 per cent effectiveness during phase III trials against the Covid-19 infection.

The Beijing Institute of Biological Product’s inactivated vaccine also had a 99 per cent seroconversion rate of neutralising the antibody and 100 per cent effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease, Sinopharm CNBG’s interim analysis of the phase III trials revealed.

No serious safety concerns were flagged.

This vaccine was granted the emergency use authorisation in September to protect the country’s frontline workers most at risk of the coronavirus infection, official news agency WAM reported. The #4Humanity phase III trials have included 31,000 volunteers across 125 nationalities in the UAE alone.

Read: UAE’s Phase III Covid-19 vaccine trial receives over 31,000 volunteers; registrations closed

In November, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, became the senior-most member of the UAE’s rulers to receive the vaccine.

Read more: Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed receives Covid-19 vaccine

This was preceded by a number of other high-ranking officials also having received the vaccine, including Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior; and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence.

Read: UAE minister of cabinet affairs receives first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

The UAE health authorities conducted 791,739 tests during December 2-8, 2020, Dr. Omar Abdulrahman Al Hammadi, official spokesman of the UAE Government, confirmed during a recent media briefing.

As a result of the tests conducted, 8,688 infections were recorded, posting a low rate of 1 per cent, lower than the European Union’s rate of 11.9 per cent, the Middle East and North Africa’s rate of 7.5 per cent, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s rate of 8.4 per cent.

Total recoveries during this period equaled 4,628, while deaths totalled 20, with the death rate standing at 0.3 per cent.

Al Hammadi clarified that face masks worn correctly do not lead to diminished oxygen levels and accumulation of carbon dioxide, even if donned for longer durations.