UAE may achieve its goal of vaccinating 50% people in the first quarter ahead of time

Earlier the United Arab Emirates had stressed on its goal to vaccinate half of its population within the first quarter but exceeding everyone’s expectations, the nation is about to complete this target well ahead of schedule.

An official confirmed that 50 percent of the entire population of the country will be vaccinated before the targeted first quarter. One of the reports also claims that the number of doses offered to the public have doubled in the last few days.

It has not even been a week since the UAE announced that it will cater to half of its population by the end of first quarter of 2021 but now that the doses offered on a per day basis has doubled, authorities suggested that the goal will be reached well ahead of its time. Recent figures show that it increased from 53,859 on Friday to 118,928 on Wednesday.

In an interview to Khaleej Times, Dr Walid Zaher, Chief Research Officer and Vaccine Project Leader, G42 Healthcare said, “With the efficacy and efficiency this operation is being conducted with right now, I think we will reach the target even before the set milestone.”

Since the start of the vaccination drive, the UAE has been achieving exceptional success especially when it comes to gaining the trust of people. On January 13, over 1.3 million doses were administered in the country. Considering all these factors, Zaher said that even though the target was realistic but now it can be achieved way earlier.

There are other reports which confirm that the target can be achieved before schedule. One of them is a report stating that the rate of administering vaccines has significantly increased. It started from 8.98 doses per day on 100 people to 14.10 on Wednesday.

The vaccination campaign is in progress in the country and it is currently the second highest after Israel in the world as far as the rate of administering vaccines to people is concerned. Despite these surprising numbers, Dr Zaher said that the rate only depends on people getting vaccinated per day.

“If you see an increase or decrease, it means that there are more or less people coming for the vaccine. Once more people get vaccinated, the rate will decrease. When we vaccinate more people, there may not be any more people to vaccinate,” he added.

He also urged people to continue coming in big numbers to secure the nation as fast as possible. He also explained when more and more people come for vaccination, those who are hesitant will also come to get a jab.

In the country, there are more than 150 healthcare centres offering vaccination against the coronavirus. Two vaccines have been approved by the UAE so far--Sinopharm and Pfizer. Both these vaccines are made available free of charge. Authorities have time and against supported people in and emphasised the need to get vaccines.

Among the various benefits that has come with this vaccination drive is that it is the fastest and most easy way to secure the nation from the virus. It is only through these vaccines, normalcy can be brought back to the nation and the economy will also be reviving itself. The same was further emphasised by the Chairman of National Covid-19 clinical management committee.

He explained that vaccines will not only protect an individual but it will also take care of those who are around that person. “The other advantage of taking the vaccine is that we will be able to go back to our normal lives. We will be able to travel and do a lot of things. Our economy, hopefully, will be back to normal,” he added while talking to Khaleej time.

Highlighting another benefit upon getting the vaccination, he said that after inoculation, one will be free to go certain areas without PCR test. The areas will be part of the green list compiled by the UAE authorities. The list includes regions like Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.