São Paulo – The prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who is also the ruler of the emirate of Dubai, posted an image on Twitter announcing he received the trial coronavirus vaccine, developed by China’s Sinopharm, on Tuesday (3).
The caption said: “While receiving the COVID-19 vaccine today. We wish everyone safety and great health, and we are proud of our teams who have worked relentlessly to make the vaccine available in the UAE. The future will always be better in the UAE.”
Earlier last month, the country’s minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has also received the trial coronavirus vaccine. Dozens of Emirati officials have received the vaccine.
Al-Nahyan tweeted an image of himself receiving the trial vaccine with a caption saying “corona vaccination is our way to return to normal life.”
In September, the UAE issued emergency approval for the trial COVID-19 vaccine for frontline healthcare workers. “The vaccine will be available to our first line of defense heroes who are at the highest risk of contracting the virus,” the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said. Healthcare workers have already gotten the shot, according to local media reports.
Sinopharm’s vaccine is now in the third and final stage of clinical trials and has so far been found safe and effective, local media reported, citing the authorities. The vaccine is compatible with the country’s laws, the country’s minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman Al-Owais, who was also the first to receive a vaccine, said.
Several pharmaceutical companies and research centers around the world are working on developing COVID-19 vaccines, with large global trials involving tens of thousands of participants under way.
The UAE has so far recorded 135,141 COVID-19 infections and 497 deaths, according to data collected by the World Health Organization.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
