UAE permits emergency use of new Covid-19 vaccine for frontline staff in the country

Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Nasser Al Owais, the UAE’s Minister of Health and Prevention, said on Monday that the country has permitted the emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The vaccine which is currently under Phase III trails in the UAE, will be available mainly to frontline workers dealing with Covid-19 patients.

معالي عبدالرحمن العويس: دولة #الإمارات ممثلة في وزارة الصحة ووقاية المجتمع تجيز الاستخدام الطارئ للقاح #كوفيد19 والذي سيكون متاح للفئات الأكثر تعاملاً مع مصابي كوفيد19من أبطال خط الدفاع الأول

— UAEGov (@uaegov) September 14, 2020

He added that the results of the studies during the third phase showed that the vaccine is effective and generated antibodies to the virus. Studies on its safety have also been reviewed and demonstrated that it is safe to use.

The world’s first Phase III trial were conducted as a partnership between Abu Dhabi based G42 Healthcare, and Sinopharm CNBG, the world’s sixth largest vaccine manufacturer.

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

The phase III clinical trial followed the success of the phase I and phase II trials conducted by Sinopharm in China, which resulted in 100 per cent of the volunteers generating antibodies after two doses in 28 days.

آخر الإحصائيات حول إصابات فيروس كوفيد 19 في الإمارات

The latest update of Coronavirus (Covid 19) in the UAE#نلتزم_لننتصر #التزامك_حياتك#ملتزمون_يا_وطن#كوفيد19#وزارة_الصحة_ووقاية_المجتمع_الإمارات#we_commit_until_we_succeed #covid19#mohap_uae pic.twitter.com/Wgm7b0zZSd

— وزارة الصحة ووقاية المجتمع الإماراتية – MOHAP UAE (@mohapuae) September 14, 2020

Dr Nawal Al-Kaabi, chairman of the National Clinical Committee for Coronavirus and the principal investigator of the third phase of clinical trials, said on Monday that 31,000 volunteers, representing 125 nationalities, participated in the clinical trials.

Al-Kaabi added that initial results are encouraging in terms of the presence of antibodies generated and the study is still ongoing.

The side effects that were detected were reportedly as expected with any other vaccine, with no serious side effects noted that required immediate treatment.

The vaccine was also trialled on 1,000 volunteers suffering from chronic diseases, and none of them reported further complications.

Al-Kaabi noted that health authorities have followed many procedures to control the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine, in coordination with the relevant entities.

Also on Monday, the UAE reported that it had detected 777 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of confirmed infections up to 80,266.

With 61,084 tests conducted over the previous 24 hours, the country has now administered over 8 million tests to screen for the virus.

There were also 530 new recoveries recorded, taking the total number of recoveries up to 69,981.

No deaths were reported during the preceding 24 hours as a result of the virus.