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

The UAE has successfully vaccinated over 31,000 volunteers as part of its Phase III trial of an inactivated vaccine for Covid-19, it announced on Sunday.

On July 16, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, chairman of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DOH), became the very first volunteer for the #4Humanity trials.

Read: Head of Abu Dhabi’s health department becomes first volunteer for Covid-19 Phase III vaccine trials

By August 13, the country had announced that it had already received 15,000 volunteers who signed up to be vaccinated.

Read also: UAE hits target of 15,000 volunteers for Covid-19 vaccine phase III trials

The Abu Dhabi Media Office said on Sunday that the number of volunteers doubled over the last two weeks.

Participants of the #4humanity Phase III COVID-19 inactivated vaccine trials have doubled in the past 2 weeks with over 31k volunteers across 120 nationalities. This makes it one of the fastest Phase III COVID-19 vaccine trials to recruit and vaccinate volunteers. pic.twitter.com/dRZN4TU8RZ

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) August 30, 2020

With over 31,000 volunteers across 120 nationalities vaccinated, volunteer registrations are now closed.

Thousands of volunteers have already received their second shot of the vaccine and will continue to undergo regular monitoring and health checks, reported news agency WAM.

The vaccine centres at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) and Al Qarain Center in Sharjah are closed for new volunteers but remain open for individuals being administered the second dose of the vaccine and for volunteer health check-ups.

The vaccine has been developed by China’s Sinopharm CNBG and the vaccination programme here in the UAE jointly managed by the Abu-Dhabi based G42 Healthcare along with the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHaP) and Abu Dhabi Health Services Company.

The phase III clinical trial follows 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.

If successful, the study will be approved and accredited by the Ethics Committee for Scientific Research in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, paving the way for the vaccine to enter the market by the end of 2020 or early 2021.

“Everyone involved in the trials from the volunteers to the clinical and administrative staff can be enormously proud of what has been achieved already showing once again the sense of unity and shared purpose that has driven the nation for the past five decades,” said Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention.